


May This Leaf Carry a Good Dream, May It Last

by FluffyFyuu



Series: Stories of Dreamleaves, Snowflakes and Light [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fae & Fairies, Fem!Kyungsoo, M/M, Magical Bond, Mental Health Issues, Mental Suffering, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Own Characters - Freeform, Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers, Talking Trees, a lot of travelling, fem!Junmyeon, physical health issues, probably romanticised descriptions of landscapes and travelling, unusual magical beings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:41:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21899077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyFyuu/pseuds/FluffyFyuu
Summary: There was a leaf that fluttered in the stormIt silently waited for its dreams to take form.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Series: Stories of Dreamleaves, Snowflakes and Light [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092059
Comments: 6
Kudos: 30
Collections: Round 3: Autumn and Winter - On the Snow





	May This Leaf Carry a Good Dream, May It Last

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt Flake:** Self-Prompt
> 
>  **Author's Note:** Here, I serve you lots of travelling, slow pacing freezing caring hearts and tons of emotions plus self-indulging landscape description on the side, garnished with overdramatization. For dessert we have a budding romance and a strange ending. As a drink, I recommend the author’s tears of desperation to that. Please enjoy!
> 
> Anyways, thank you dear mods for being patient and granting me extensions. I struggled to finish on time and am thankful to my Beta for pushing me into the right direction, thank you for all the language help and for finding plot holes! Working with you was a pleasure, thank you so much for being so sweet and kind to me :3  
> 
> 
> _Things used/referenced which are not mine:  
>  The main inspiration = “Der Traumzauberbaum (The magical dreamtree)”, a german song collection telling different children’s stories via songs by Reinhard Lakomy  
> The summary/main metaphor = last lines of “[ My heart, trembling like a leaf ](https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/my-heart-trembling-like-a-leaf/)” by Rani Turton  
> The song leaf = translated lyrics from “Unter dem Eis (Beneath the ice)” by Eisblume  
> _
> 
>   
> 

There’s a forest.

A forest with a big roof of colourful leaves all year around, the sun drawing patterns onto the ground and deer roaming the forest for sweet berries. Squirrels can be seen running around in search for delicious nuts, the sound of fluttering wings and birds singing their melodies linger in the air.

And where the forest is seven days deep – there’s a shimmer. A light.

It’s _him_.

His majestic silhouette overlooks the others even from afar, emitting a powerful aura which inspires awe in every being. A powerful trunk supports his far-reaching crown and the many branches are adorned with small dots of light. The lights are new-born leaves, delicate and proud – waiting to sing a tune, to fulfil their fate.

In each leaf hides a dream for a child down on Earth.

Because each leaf is a creation of _his_.

The magical Dreamtree.

* * *

“ _Good morning, Jongdae_.”

Curled lips form a tender smile.

“Good morning, old friend. I wish you a day full of rest and good dreams.”

A deep rumble fills the air with ancient power, symbolizing the start of a new day.

Jongdae remains in front of the tree, gazing up at the young leaves glowing under the morning sun shining from above. Their colours turn the glimmering light into an aspiring artist with an autumnal palette, creating a warmth Jongdae can’t imagine losing. There’s a place in him which falls into a trance, providing calmness to meet the new day with patience and love.

Usually, early morning hours are peaceful since most beings keep a distance, staying quiet and respectful. The fluttering of Jongdae’s wings is the only sound to be heard, birds too shy to sing and disturb the rest of the ancient tree. Jongdae is grateful for this, fulfilling his duty in silence allows him to appreciate the dreams the way they deserve.

His gaze wanders down, because he hears another fluttering sound – there, moss-green wings twinkle in the morning sun on their way to him. Jongdae smiles and when he gets closer, there’s a quiet mumble of a rich voice reaching his ears.

“Each morning’s the same, when will this marble head learn-“

“Good morning, Soo.”

His apprentice’s face darts up and Jongdae’s met with owlish eyes, one brown and one green.

“Ah, g’morning, Jongdae. I didn’t see you at breakfast.”

Jongdae’s smile turns apologetic.

“I’m so-“

“But I saw your bowl. And your spoon. And your mug.” Sookyung’s bushy eyebrows are pulled together to a frown and full lips form a straight line. “Seriously Jongdae, at least move them to the sink.”

Jongdae’s own eyebrows rise high and he starts to defend himself.

“But I wanted to speak to him and you know-“

“You can only actually talk with him early in the morning, I know.” The bushy eyebrows smoothen and big eyes turn tender with care. “But you need to take care of yourself, too. You didn’t even finish your oats.”

Jongdae’s heart grows warm at the caring words, yet his head and the tips of his wings lower in shame.

“You’re right, Soo. I’m sorry.”

A huff can be heard.

“Stop with your droopy wings, Dae. I don’t need you being mopey all day.” The green pair of wings flutters faster now, moving Sookyung higher. “We have to get started or we won’t finish fast enough.”

Jongdae sighs at her commanding words and follows.

* * *

The tuning fork in his hand feels fragile yet solid against his chapped fingertips. Jongdae just touched a leaf with it, urging it to fly and sing its song on the way down to earth. His gaze follows the brown leaf, hoping the dream about jumping into a pile of autumn leaves brings joy to the child who’s receiving it.

It fills him with warmth and pride, to imagine the child having a good dream and starting the day with a smile on their face. Jongdae loves to send off leaves singing from happiness, no matter if it’s an orange one spreading joy about ice cream in the summer heat or a blue one creating pictures of happy dolphins dancing through ocean waves.

There is a special type of leaf though, a delicate golden colour indicating its dream carries a deeper meaning, aiding its child to find their true happiness in life.

These leaves are rare, Jongdae had the honour to send them off onto their journey only eight times so far. And a long time has passed since he became the guardian of the Dreamtree – not many fairies get chosen and even less get through the bonding ceremony.

His own bond is filled with calmness, a familiar silence soothing his own stormy state of being. The constant presence in his mind was overwhelming at first, but now Jongdae doesn’t want to miss the company and steady support it gives – even if it isn’t all encompassing.

Electric blue wings shine and flutter when Jongdae flies higher to reach another branch. His straight eyebrows frown when he spots black dots on a mint green leaf. Careful not to touch it with the tuning fork, he stretches his hand out to detach it from the branch with his lips curled down in distaste.

Leaves which turn black are never a good sign, indicating the Dreamtree isn’t healthy enough to grow and maintain positive dreams.

The frown stays on Jongdae’s face while he flies to a close lake, the leaf clutched in his grip and tuning fork safely tucked away in his pants pockets. No black leaf should be sent off, their songs being incomplete with the danger of turning into a nightmare. But they can’t stay connected to the Dreamtree either – they’d accumulate and infect other leaves until the tree is overpowered by bad dreams. Resulting into his health decreasing and thus, unable to grow more positive dreams and succumbing to the black leaves.

To prevent this, Jongdae and Sookyung pluck the black leaves to throw them into the lake – which transports them to Stormeet. It’s a part of their forest, far out at the border to the Summersavannah where the trees are fewer in number and dry earth dominates the landscape. There, the fairies use the negative energy of the black leaves to power their lightning – purifying the energy with the electric force.

Jongdae once visited them and was awed by the harsh lines cutting through the air. He kind of is a lightning fairy himself, so each time an electric white-blue bolt hit the ground he could feel its power surge through him. At that moment he could imagine getting addicted to the exhilarating feeling of power.

Sometimes, when he thinks back to his visit, he wonders how different his life would have been if he didn’t get chosen, if the crystal didn’t show a leaf fluttering in a thunderstorm – humming a song to itself.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Jongdae throws the leaf into the lake and flies back. The lake is close by, being the only thing which interrupts the meadow around the Dreamtree – no other trees grow around it, keeping a distance of at least three hundred meters.

It allows the Dreamtree to spread his crown and paint a colourful pattern onto the ground when the sunlight shines through it. The sight lightens Jongdae’s mood and his lips once again curl upwards.

He flies back to the spot where he came from and retrieves the tuning fork out of his pocket, further inspecting the branch. It has leaves ranging from mint green to deep blue and white to silver.

When Jongdae is close enough he can feel something unfamiliar – a cold brush of air tickling his wings. With a trained eye he finds the source, a white almost translucent leaf emitting little clouds of fog. They linger around and appear reluctant to dissipate.

Jongdae smiles.

This sure is a strong dream, showing signs of its song already without being sent off. Eager to listen to it, he touches the leaf with the tuning fork and with a _ping_ the song is released.

His dark eyes widen and a chill creeps through his skin, when the first sound wafts through the air – building into a haunting melody filled with a desperate longing.

_Someone must be out there,_

_Someone beyond the ice,_

_Who dares to break through_

_this cold, snow-clad façade._

_Come and melt my frozen self,_

_Show me the sky_

_Show me the clouds_

_Passing by_

Stunned, Jongdae stares at the leaf.

Little clouds of fog are left behind while it flies away, starting its journey through the fairy land. It will travel all day until it reaches earth during the late evening – singing the song to its child to gift them the dream.

Even when the leaf is already out of sight, Jongdae remains frozen in the air - the song lingers in his mind. He felt it – the desperation, the _longing_.

It is not often that Jongdae finds himself so deep in thought, caught off guard by a dream. But this one speaks to him, its melody resonates within and gives words to a feeling Jongdae kept pushing back into the depths of his mind.

But it has a voice, quiet yet resilient in his head humming this melody and filling Jongdae with the same longing.

He loves his talent, his calling.

The joy of sending off dreams and making children laugh.

But there’s this pressure – the constant need to perform well, not to fail and keep the Dreamtree healthy. To take care of everything, shoulder this responsibility.

Jongdae knows he’s not alone, he has the Dreamtree himself and Sookyung at his side.

Since she got chosen and became his apprentice two years ago, there is much more tender banter and shared laughter in his life. Jongdae appreciates her companionship, the affection they hold for each other due to their shared task – but he also tries not to invest too much into their relationship.

Sookyung didn’t had the bonding ceremony yet and only fate knows if she’ll make it through. Jongdae is aware that they both are afraid of the day the Dreamtree announces it’s time for her, to hold the ceremony and create the bond.

The memory of his own is already beginning to fade, succumbing to the lingering feeling of the numbing slumber he had to endure. The experience of opening his consciousness and then the following darkness are the only things Jongdae is sure he won’t forget.

He had lost something of himself that time, but has gained an unconditionally loyal and supporting friend. Yet, despite the constant presence of the Dreamtree in their bond – he feels lonely.

There is still a part of him which feels empty, yearning to find its missing piece. Its source of comfort, the possibility to let go of his worries and be himself, Jongdae. Not the guardian of the Dreamtree, not a mentor guiding his apprentice.

His heart longs for a fairy with whom he could let go of his duties for a moment, share sweet time gazing at clouds and searching for beautiful leaves only to compare them to the beauty of his beloved one. To see them blush at his compliment, cheeks glowing and sharing a profound happiness.

But this dream is a quiet one. Jongdae would never voice it aloud, too aware of his duty.

Even if he finds a fairy to share his life with – he’d still be the guardian. His priority is and always will be the Dreamtree, to keep him safe and healthy. It’s time consuming and Jongdae is sure, no happy relationship can grow with the little free time he has to himself. This sad thought increases his longing, but his turmoiled mind is yanked back to reality with the call of his name.

“Jongdae!” Sookyung’s voice sounds close. “What’s up with you? I already called you twice.”

He shakes his head to get rid of the last remnants of the lingering thoughts and turns around to face Sookyung. She’s hovering close to him, her own tuning fork in one hand and brows furrowed in concern.

“Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”

Sookyung tilts her head, short dark hair glinting green under a stray ray of sunshine.

“Yeah, I guessed so much. You okay?”

Jongdae hums and forces himself to smile.

“Don’t worry, Soo. I’m fine.” He knows his smile isn’t convincing, but he has the advantage of his ‘mentor voice’ – filling his next words with some authority. “Was there something else you wanted to say?”

She shakes her head.

“Good, then let’s continue and finish before lunch, maybe the sprites are awake by then and we can ask for some pastries.”

Sookyung’s eyes narrow, but she nods and flies further down.

Jongdae sighs and gets back to the blue-greenish branch, finally sending the other leaves off – but this time his mind blocks out the quiet melodies wafting through the air.

* * *

Sookyung sits opposite to him in their little shed, munching on a pastry and her eyebrows are raised in bliss. He can’t hold it against her, the delicious raspberry pastry melts in Jongdae’s mouth and his kittenish lips curl up in joy of the sweet taste. He loves the pastries made by his befriended forest sprites – two of the most chaotic beings he knows, but the most in love with each other as well.

They sit at the end of their table, small in height but with a strong aura.

His heart squeezes tight in jealousy when he sees how Hwasa keeps a protective eye on her lover and he knows she does so every time they leave their fox den. The fond look she has when her gaze follows the blonde, almost pastel rose-coloured hair strands swaying with the motions of Wheein placing the pastries onto their plates.

Or how said raspberry sprite keeps shoving pastries onto a certain plate, her cheeks turning almost as pink as the berries in her baked goods when her lover reminds her to be nice and to distribute them evenly. The little voice in Jongdae’s mind whispers longing words, to feel the same warmth and to be cared for as deeply as those two do.

His inner turmoil gets unnoticed, while Jongdae keeps eating and listens to their conversation. Sookyung’s question about the recipe got Wheein babbling without an end and since his apprentice is interested in cooking, both their voices are filled with delighted enthusiasm.

Jongdae catches the fond smile of Hwasa, looking at her lover and it feeds into his jealousy – lighting a rare fire in his heart.

It’s not that he wasn’t jealous before in his life – his feeling of responsibility usually quietens it rather fast, though. But it doesn’t lessen this time, spreading a burning sensation throughout his body and Jongdae frowns.

This is new.

A sudden heat wave blazing over his skin has Jongdae gasping in surprise.

The others look at him with worry, but Jongdae can’t ease their concern when another wave has him feeling like his heart is aflame. There is sweat collecting at his temples and the last pieces of pastry taste dry in his mouth. After successfully swallowing them, a coughing fit has his body squirming in pain.

“Jongdae?” Sookyung’s worried voice is distant, small and dull. Jongdae wants to answer, but there’s another sound.

A deep rumble getting louder and louder until it’s the only thing echoing in his mind.

 _“Jongdae_.”

His eyes snap open, only now noticing that he had them squeezed close before, and he’s met with the concerned faces of his friends. But without a word leaving his lips, Jongdae jumps up and flies outside. His wings feel heavy, skin sweaty and heart beating fast to fight against the fire in his body.

He ignores the shouts of Sookyung and the two sprites, only one thing in his mind – he has to get to _him_.

His bond is still filled with a rumble, so deep and in pain and in _anger_ , it has Jongdae choking on his own spit and breathing strained. When he reaches his old friend, hands touching his bark and trying to be a soothing presence in their bond – the Dreamtree startles him even more.

He’s waking up.

Jongdae knows the feeling, a tickling sensation surging through the previously calm trance in the back of his mind. The at first almost overwhelming presence stretching their bond and starting to drain Jongdae.

Usually, Jongdae would feed his energy without hesitation – allowing the Dreamtree to gain more power to grow the leaves overnight, leaving Jongdae exhausted and succumbing to sleep. But this time it’s still early in the afternoon and Jongdae is reluctant to give. He feels how the Dreamtree realizes this as well – stopping the energy flow between them.

The anger boiling through their bond lessens for a bit, interrupted by an unspoken apology. Jongdae knows better than to hold a grudge against the Dreamtree – he gets closer, hugging the trunk and intensifying his soothing presence, signalling there’s no harm done.

But their bond starts to pulse hot with anger again and Jongdae knows he has to wait a few more minutes until he can get a vocalized response. His hands caress the bark with slow movements, feeling the rough texture which seems to shake under the Dreamtree’s agitated state.

It has Jongdae grow even more worried, wondering what could have caused the anger and the sudden burning sensation, his heat waves. He clears his dry throat.

“What’s wrong, my friend?”

It’s only a whisper, afraid to fuel the fire blazing through their bond.

An answer comes with the shift of air, a powerful energy filled with anger overtaking.

“ _She is alive. What was said to be impossible, happened. I can feel it in my roots, in my branches far and wide. She is alive_.”

His voice is deep in their bond, a boiling rumble of ancient emotions.

Jongdae frowns.

“Who do you mean? Who is alive?”

Their bond twists and there’s the picture of a rectangular silhouette against cold moonlight, a haunting melody lingering in the air – singing of destruction and sweet wood.

“ _Her. The Singing Saw awakened_.”

The bark under his fingers vibrates, sending a shudder through Jongdae. He feels the anger and fear in his old friend, the unusual emotions even stronger now that he is awake. But then, there is confusion as well and his next words are rumbled with an impossibly deep tone.

“ _I can feel her, but I can not see her. She is flawed, blinded. What have they done?_ ”

His confusion melts together with Jongdae’s, overtaking their bond and turning it into a storm of thoughts. It has Jongdae squeeze his eyes and grind his teeth – it is so _loud_.

It’s difficult to get a grip of one single thing, there are words and pictures and sounds whirling around. A clash of sensations forcing Jongdae to try not to crumble under the weight of it all.

A sudden pressure on his shoulder startles Jongdae, has him choking in surprise. In addition to the storm in his bonded mind, he starts to make out another voice – but he can’t understand the words.

There’s a hand loosening his grip on the bark, another arm at his waist supporting his weight – only now does Jongdae notice how weak his wings are fluttering, how they struggle to hold his position under the impossibly heavy power of the bond.

He realizes his mistake, to get overwhelmed by the ancient emotions of his old friend. Concentrating on the grounding touch at his hand and waist, Jongdae takes a deep breath and stretches their bond wide, searching distance. His shoulders sag in relief when the storm in his mind lessens, when the rushing of blood in his ears starts to disappear.

It has the Dreamtree’s confusion grow at first, but then the storm ceases – washed away by a wave of apologetic energy.

“ _I apologize, Jongdae_.”

Jongdae shakes his head, even though his friend isn’t able to see. He knows it wasn’t his fault and Jongdae doesn’t hesitate to close the distance in their bond again, welcomed by a deep apologetic warmth.

“All is good, my friend. She must be important, to upset you so greatly.”

“ _The moment she is summoned we share a bond, for she is made of my flesh. Yet we are destined to be enemies. But something is wrong, she does not see me_.”

Jongdae frowns.

“But doesn’t this benefit you?”

“ _Yes_.” A deep feeling of dread fills their bond. “ _But only fate knows who she has set her eyes on, who she is tasked to slay – instead of me._ ”

A cold shudder runs through Jongdae at his words. It has the grip at his waist strengthen and there’s another voice again, closer to his left ear now.

“Jongdae? What happened?”

It’s Sookyung, her voice trembling with worry.

“Jong-“

But she is interrupted by an ancient rumble filling the air and with it comes the familiar calmness, washing over Jongdae. The bond quietens down, a silent trance replacing the emotional storm which raged through it earlier.

It doesn’t help to lift the worry filling Jongdae’s mind. Jongdae knows this has to be brought to the admins and he already dreads the upcoming bureaucracy. The Dreamtree’s words linger heavy in his thoughts and they drain him of his precious optimism.

Jongdae leans into Sookyung’s hold and searches her gaze, yearning for support – it has her eyebrows rise high in surprise when she meets his eyes.

After Jongdae lets go of the bark completely, he has to clear his throat before a dry whisper is able to leave his lips – passing on the alarming news to Sookyung.

Of the ancient threat.

Of the endangered unknown being(s).

Jongdae’s heart is heavy with worry.

The same feeling is mirrored in Sookyung’s wide eyes and her eyebrows gain tension.

“Toefungus! This sounds horrible …” Her voice sounds unusually frail, but she is already looking contemplative. “But what can we do? Do you know what-eh, who this Singing Saw is?”

Jongdae shakes his head.

“Then I suggest you fly to the archive. If this saw shares a bond to the Dreamtree, they have to have records of it.”

“Don’t you think it would be better to inform the admins first?”

“But you need to know more about the thing er- this _being_ , first. It would help a lot to prove the threat-“

Jongdae scoffs.

“Do you think they wouldn’t believe me?”

“You know the admins, Jongdae.” Sookyung sighs. “A proved fact on paper is worth more than spoken words, even if the Dreamtree himself would be able to speak them aloud. You need to show them an official written proof of this Singing Saw.”

His shoulders sag down at the realization of this truth.

“You’re right … I need information about this being. Maybe this will also aid in preventing it attacking whoever unlucky being it is tasked to slay.”

“Well then, the location of the archive is marked on my map – you can take it with you, though.”

Sookyung guides them to their shed, her grip on his waist still supportive. Jongdae notices how his wings gain their strength back with each passing second, but he still feels comforted by her touch.

He just hopes his wings won’t make any problems with the travel to the archive – Jongdae isn’t used to fly far distances, he’s more specialized on flying fast on short range.

The thoughts of his absence remind him of another possible problem.

“While I’m away … do you think you can manage sending off the leaves on your own? You could,” they land on the leaf covert ground in front of their shed, “you could ask the sprites for help. I can give them my tuning fork, so you’ll be faster.”

Jongdae hears her low hum close to his ear.

They enter the shed and while Jongdae takes a seat at their table to rest before his travel, Sookyung starts to search the map in a drawer. Her nimble fingers fish out a scroll, she steps closer to spread it on the table and rotates it to give Jongdae a better view.

Her index finger points to a big tree, distinct against the shaded green of the drawn forest.

“We’re here and the archive is there, next to the Everbridge.”

“Ah, isn’t it guarded by this strange couple of pebble sprites? Didn’t Sehun complain about them mocking him and not letting him pass due to his height?”

“Yeah, though he truly is rather towering, they probably think every fairy is too tall … you better avoid their area.” She circles the bottom of the bridge, close to a black cross labelled with an A. “The archive is close by, so you don’t need to cross the bridge and listen to them calling you a giant firefly. Though I’d call you tiny at best.” Sookyung chuckles at her words, but Jongdae inhales with a dramatic gasp.

“There’s nothing wrong with my height!”

“I know, I know, it’s perfect to fit into my pocket.”

Jongdae whines at that, hearing those words not for the first time. His apprentice likes to tease him about his height and occasionally even about his wings, which do bear similarity to the ones of a firefly. Two pairs of slim and long ovals, sharp edged and the many small membrane parts shining an electric blue with each fluttering movement.

“Anyways,” Sookyung interrupts his whining and taps her finger on three small circles, creating a line from their location to the archive, “be sure to stay in one of these tree arks. I know you’ll get exhausted by night and won’t be able to fly without breaks.”

Jongdae’s instinct to grumble at her pointing out his weakness gets suppressed by him recognizing her words as hidden concern. So, instead of complaining – he smiles at her.

When she looks at him, one of her bushy eyebrows rise high. The familiar sight warms his heart.

“I’ll make sure to take breaks and seek shelter if a storm arises. Don’t worry your pretty wings, Soo.”

He’s met with a hearty smile.

“You better do so, you marble head. I know how stubborn you can be.”

Jongdae answers with his own smile, upper lip curling in amusement. His gaze wanders back to the map, to familiarize himself with the route. When his eyes trace the way from the circles to the marked cross, a question comes to his mind.

“Why do you have the archive marked anyways? I don’t remember ever needing to pay it a visit.”

Sookyung sends him a strange look, a concerned hue in her eyes which vanishes the next second. She clears her throat before talking.

“I spent a lot of time in the archive during my first days after being chosen. The need to read as much as possible about the Dreamtree got me there and I left with even more.”

Jongdae raises an eyebrow at her words.

“More?”

“I made my first friend.”

A sudden nostalgic feeling spreads through Jongdae.

The first relationship made after being tested by the crystal is an important one – new and exciting. Introducing a fairy to the world of shared affection and social bonding, going deeper than the guidance of the fairies welcoming them after their arrival to the fairy land.

His mind conjures the picture of his own first friend – bright pink hair and long slender fingers with green knuckles, together with a boxy smile exuding mischief. The longing feeling returns and increases the need to start his travel, to end this chaos and return to the beings he holds dear.

“Then I am honoured to meet your friend, Soo.” Jongdae stands up and collects the map. “I’ll be in my room to pack a few things and then I’m off to the archive. Please take care of yourself and our old friend, I hope we all stay safe until I’m back.”

* * *

Jongdae’s wings start to feel heavy, even though the membrane is as thin as a spider’s fine silk thread. His back began hurting fifty minutes ago, when he passed the first tree ark and the spot of his hip, where his small pouch is rhythmically bumping against, feels like one big bruise. The next ark should be in sight soon and it’s the one thing which keeps Jongdae flying.

Since he’s on his own, there’s no one to talk to and therefore he opts to listen to the forest instead.

The day is nearing its end and the pattern drawn by light on the ground vanishes as soon as the sun starts its journey to meet the horizon. Everything gets a darker tint of colour, the air tastes more like moss and earth.

Jongdae can see birds flying home to their nests, deer raise their heads when he flies past them and foxes run around on a late hunt for food. He even spots boar sprites guiding a family of wild boars with shoats to a safe shelter.

It spreads a feeling of last restfulness before the impending night and sleep, this itch to move before your mind and body could find rest.

His mind is churning over the words of his old friend, trying to recall the memory of this Singing Saw in their bond and to conjure its picture again. This strange rectangular form, sharp edges highlighted by the moonlight … and this _song_.

Jongdae has heard and sung quite a lot of songs, but this one has him shivering with goosebumps even now.

Along with its melody come almost poetic words of delicious wood under sharp teeth, of destroying thousands of dreams and relishing in the sound of children crying.

The haunting song lingers heavy in his thoughts when the tree ark comes into view.

It’s a simple one, a tree grown to provide shelter for one or two beings. Jongdae navigates to the only opening - which is covered with a piece of dead wood, its lighter bark standing out against the dark tree.

When Jongdae lifts it to the side, a dark circular room greets him. Careful not to bump into anything, he instinctively flutters to the middle of it with his hands outstretched, feeling and searching – _there_! His fingers come upon a rounded, smooth surface and after Jongdae sends some energy into it, the darkness begins to disappear.

His fingertips look pink now, illuminated by the glowstone below and the familiar sight brings a smile to his face. With another bolt of energy, the stone starts to emit warmth as well, which prompts Jongdae to turn around and to close the opening with the dead wood.

Now with the glowstone as the only source of light, the rest of the room appears cosy under its yellow lighting. There are two sleeping bunks close to the ceiling, beneath one of it a cupboard and empty shelves. Jongdae steps closer to the table where the glowstone is attached to and takes a seat in one of the two chairs.

His wings start to throb or perhaps Jongdae just starts to notice it now that he’s not using them any longer. He feels how the tips start to go limp, curling into themselves and he can’t wait to find some sleep – but his stomach rumbles, apparently against the early night’s rest.

Placing his small pouch onto the tabletop with tired arms, Jongdae rummages through it to find one of the energy bars he packed. While munching on it, he waits for the signs of the Dreamtree’s awakening and further inspects the room.

It’s dusty but kept in good shape, not any broken or shattered thing in sight. At least on the first look.

But Jongdae knows better than to whine about the condition of this ark, when its existence is a safe place for any fairy searching protection – no matter whether they’re on a travel, simply in need of a bunk for the night or searching shelter during a storm.

They tend to be small, meant for only two or three fairies at once like the one Jongdae is staying at. There are bigger ones the closer you get to Stormeet, where thunderstorms last longer and often take visiting fairies by surprise – their unpractised eyes failing to notice the signs of an impending storm.

Jongdae hopes there won’t be one tonight, he knows he needs a good night full of rest. Even if the archive is farther away from Stormeet than the Dreamtree, the whole Autumnforest is prone to strong winds.

A sigh leaves his lips when he feels the familiar tickling sensation in the back of his mind, breaking through the calmness of their bond. It prompts Jongdae to take his pouch and fly to one of the bunks, preparing himself to let go of the remnants of energy in him.

Not bothering to change clothes, he pulls a small blanket from his pouch and tries to get comfortable in the bunk. The mattress is harder than the one at home, but he accommodates with lying on his left side – it’s not his usual sleeping position, but it is better for his wings in this narrow bunk.

The bond starts to stretch, building into a sting due to the distance between them. Jongdae inhales a deep breath and when he exhales, he allows his energy to flow out. The length of this draining process differs, but since the Dreamtree awakened already once during the day he needs more than usual.

Jongdae feels how the energy leaves him, his hands start to shake and then he can’t keep his eyes open any longer.

* * *

The archive looks different from how Jongdae envisioned it.

He expected an old tree, strong in width and a lot of knotholes decorating the cracked bark.

But he’s surprised by the many branches and how clean the bark looks – no sign of any bug having a feast of its wood. The only way Jongdae knows to prevent this on long-term is to gain the favour of an insect sprite – which is difficult, since they are secretive and hard to find.

Jongdae flies alongside the trunk, which meets his expectation of it being wide. Looking up and down to locate the entrance opening, he spots a row of windows instead. Flying closer, he looks inside and is met with a circular room, tables arranged in three rows facing a counter.

There is no one inside.

His gaze wanders higher and he spots the entrance, a light wooden door and it’s only a few metres from where he’s at – further around the trunk.

When he reaches it and closes the door behind him after entering, a dry yet cold air greets him. It has Jongdae shiver for a few seconds and he hides his fingers in the too long sleeves of his cardigan.

Flying closer to the service counter, he notices an opening to another room in the floor behind it. The archivist is probably down there, so Jongdae looks at the countertop to find some kind of a bell to alert them of his presence.

There’s a circular stone screwed to the wooden surface, white in colour and small enough to fit into his palm. When he touches it, the smooth surface reminds him of the glowstones, so he experimentally sends a bit of energy into it. The white turns into a mint-green shade and shortly after, Jongdae can hear something rustle in the lower level.

“I’ll be with you in a second!”

Silver hair is the first thing Jongdae can see, followed by a smiling face and slender shoulders clad in a light grey sweater, though one sleeve shows skin with black patches strewn across it. Since their legs are hidden by the counter, Jongdae’s gaze wanders higher and he is caught off guard by their wings. They are different than Jongdae is used to – two long appendages pointing up and bending down halfway, crème coloured and shining like a pearl.

“Hey, I’m Sohee. How can I help you?”

Jongdae realizes he’s staring and guides his gaze from the wings to the fairy’s face. She has a depth in her questioning eyes, the muddy green reminds him of leaves singing about the fading spring. With her temples speckled with black patches, Jongdae wonders for a second if her eyes are the only thing of her not being black or grey.

It doesn’t seem too far off that this fairy is the first friend of Sookyung, she does fit his apprentice’s aesthetical preferences in terms of her looks. Knowing Sookyung, this probably was the thing to help her break out of her quiet shell and talk to the fairy. Similarities attract each other, after all.

The fairy, Sohee, tilts her head and raises a full eyebrow.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jongdae clears his throat. “I need to research a … being, but I don’t know where to begin.”

Sohee’s slim lips stretch into a smile.

“Well, do you know the name? I’ll have to look it up.”

“The Singing Saw.”

Full eyebrows shoot up behind her messy fringe. “It’s been a while since someone spoke that name here.” Her voice turns tentative. “It doesn’t bode good news. Is everything okay with the Dreamtree?”

“Well …” Jongdae bites his lip, unsure if he should tell someone about the threat before he informed the responsible admin.

She frowns at the lack of his response, her green eyes wander to his hair and then they grow wide.

“You are the Dreamtree’s guardian! Jongdae, was it?” He nods. “I’m sorry, I should have recognized your hair. Are you researching about the Dreamtree’s history?”

“Yes, I thought it was finally time to do so.” Jongdae uses the chance to distract from the possible threat of the Singing Saw. “Sookyung teased me enough about not knowing certain things.”

Sohee’s green eyes gain a sparkle.

“How is she?”

The question and the warmth in her expression have Jongdae curl his lips into a smile.

“She’s well, a truly diligent apprentice. I am proud to be her mentor.”

Sohee smiles wide, teeth shining and cheeks turning squishable.

“I’m happy to hear that. She was so shy and I was afraid she wouldn’t get along with, eh, you.” She sighs. “Well, I guess I’ll get you the documents. Please take a seat while I’m downstairs, it shouldn’t take me too long.”

Jongdae smiles and nods. Sohee disappears through the opening in the floor, the downturned tips of her long wings flowing behind her.

Once more alone in the room, Jongdae turns around and walks to one of the tables to take a seat. He prepares himself by pulling out a small notebook and pen, arranging them onto the tabletop like an eager student.

Looking around to entertain himself while waiting, he notices drawings on the walls. Delicate swirls of black and red colour, creating a big pattern of leaves and gusts of wind coming to life under the light of the glowstones attached to the ceiling.

Jongdae tilts his head, his eyes follow lines depicting the seasonal dance of leaves riding on the wind. Some found their other halves, others stay together as a group - twirling around each other. There are leaves who stay on their own, but neither are expressed in a forlorn way. Even though Jongdae’s heart longs to find a partner for life, he appreciates the openness of the drawing – of being satisfied on their own.

His thoughts get interrupted by Sohee, her long fingers place four archive files on the tabletop with a heavy _thunk_.

“Sadly, this is everything we’ve got. There isn’t much about the Singing Saw herself, we mainly have records about some sprites called Cloak and Cap who summoned her once.”

Jongdae recognizes the names, but he doesn’t mention that - too eager to read about the Singing Saw. He thanks Sohee for retrieving the documents and after an introduction by her how to handle them, Jongdae is left on his own to read.

Occasionally making notes, he reads about the creation of the Singing Saw.

As documented by early admin fairies, she was created by the same ancient beings who planted the Dreamtree and gifted him with a conscience.

The Singing Saw is to be summoned by a magical being if all hope is lost, as a last weapon against the Dreamtree. If he ever is overturned by black leaves and only spreads nightmares, then she shall feast on his wood and destroy all dreams. Even if this means no child on earth receives a positive dream any longer, preventing the spreading of nightmares was apparently more important to these ancient beings than making children smile.

To enable the Singing Saw to find the Dreamtree, she is made of his wood to fuel the hunger in her – to guide her to him no matter where she is summoned.

Jongdae taps at his chin with the pen, deep in thought.

The Dreamtree probably meant this by her “seeing him”, but she doesn’t now. If she is an ancient being who must be summoned – the logical thing to explain the current situation would be that something must have gone wrong with the summoning.

But he can’t find any details on _how_ to summon her, so Jongdae can’t be sure if and how a mistake would influence the Singing Saw.

Are there any other changes to her now?

How could one tell who she has the urge to feast on now?

What is there to do to defeat the Singing Saw?

The only information about the untimely end of her in the script is sparse. When her task is done and the Dreamtree no longer alive, she shall disappear as well. If she fails to pursue her calling, the Singing Saw will vanish the second her summoner does as well.

Jongdae has to read the last sentence once more.

A smile forms on his curled lips while he writes in his notebook, these are crucial pieces of information he has to pass on to the admins.

Because there is hope. There is a possibility to defeat the Singing Saw and to save the Dreamtree.

But they need to find her summoner first, which is a feat Jongdae can’t imagine how difficult it will be. How do you find an unknown magical being who summoned an ancient sentient weapon?

Jongdae is aware it’s only an assumption, but since the Singing Saw is rather unknown even in Autumnforest, it has to be someone with a connection to the Dreamtree. Which means the being is probably an inhabitant of this season as well.

Driven by the newfound information, Jongdae dives into the other archive files and reads and reads. When he closes the last archive file, he rubs his eyes and sighs. Jongdae feels a headache forming behind his temples, overwhelmed by the new information.

He closes his notebook, puts it back into his pouch together with the pen and stacks the archive files onto each other. When he lifts them, his eyebrows raise high at the sudden weight – on their own they weren’t this heavy!

Jongdae hears a giggle from the service counter and when he puts the files onto the countertop, she sends him a sympathetic look.

“They’re pretty heavy, right? I hope everything was okay, though. Did you have any problems with reading the scripture?”

“No, I’m used to the old tongue due to the bond.”

Sohee makes an understanding sound, nodding.

“That’s quite handy, I remember the days I struggled to learn it.”

Now Jongdae is the one nodding.

“I can imagine how difficult it must be.” His gaze falls upon the archive files again. “Though these old records hold so much knowledge, it would be a pity losing it.”

“Indeed,” Sohee smiles. “I hope their knowledge helped you.”

“It was quite … informative.”

“Well, it’s an archive.” The smile on her thin lips grows into a grin. “It’s filled with information.”

Jongdae chuckles at that, eyes scrunched up.

“I see why Sookyung took a liking to you.” His chuckle turns airy, almost a sigh. “I have to hurry back now, though it was a pleasure to meet you, Sohee.”

Her grin turns less prominent, but she doesn’t appear too saddened. Jongdae assumes she has to greet and say goodbye to a lot of beings in her calling, being too attached to a user is probably emotionally exhausting after working at the archive for some time.

“It was a pleasure, Jongdae.” Sohee pulls the archive files closer to herself, ready to go back to her work. “Please greet Sookyung for me and tell her to visit some time.”

“I will. Farewell, Sohee.”

* * *

Jongdae just left the tree ark, the morning sun is glittering through the leaves above and the air is full of fresh energy, ready for the new day.

It helps Jongdae to ignore his troublesome night – filled with nightmares about black leaves, tree resin drenching the forest floor while a haunting melody overpowers nature’s sounds. It’s still reverberating in his mind, but the song of birds welcoming the sun slowly replace the uncomfortable tune.

Colourful leaves rustle when he passes them, his wings creating little spirals of leaves - whirling around the ones descending down to the ground below. Jongdae inhales satisfied, cherishing the earthy scent. He can’t imagine living in another season.

Autumnforest is home to him, to so many beings.

Jongdae feels safe surrounded by tall trees, their leaves falling in a never-ending display of yellows and oranges and reds. The warmth they express despite the daily rainfall in the middle parts of their grand forest, close to the Dreamtree.

The rain can be quite harsh, but everyone living here is used to it by now. Their wings are different, too. Jongdae wondered about that for a while, but every autumn fairy he had met so far had water-repellent wings and he assumes it’s just normal for them.

But it’s not like Jongdae got around much to refute this assumption.

His thoughts get interrupted by a sudden coldness, which has a shiver running across his skin and his fluttering wings stutter. Jongdae’s hands retreat back into his sleeves on instinct.

He keeps flying at a slower pace, eyes wandering around to spot any unusual occurrence. Strange, usually there is wind accompanying the coldness, but he didn’t notice any – yet his skin is still covered with goosebumps. 

After some minutes he feels a shift, a pressure in his bond. It’s weird, the Dreamtree fell asleep a few hours ago – there shouldn’t be any other feeling than the calm trance between them.

The strange feeling doesn’t disappear, even when Jongdae knows he’s close to his home.

Trees start to look more familiar and a group of jaybirds greets him – flying circles around his head with excited flaps of their tiny wings. Their chirping is high and somehow filled with a worried undertone.

Jongdae frowns, especially when he notices the air turning colder the closer he gets to the Dreamtree.

Soon, he arrives at the treehouses he shares with Sookyung, two trees with wide trunks. Each is grown to have three rooms, located vertically above each other – the rooms connected with openings in the respective floor or ceiling, closed with hatches. There is one entrance which leads to the kitchen in the middle and only a few windows, small and with thick glass to hold up against rainstorms.

Jongdae flies to the left tree, tracing its lighter bark with his sweater-covered hands while he gets closer to one of the two main openings. The highest one leads to Sookyung’s room and the lowest to his, while the bathroom in the middle doesn’t have any entrance leading outside.

When he enters his room, Jongdae is still shivering. After putting away his pouch and keeping the notebook grasped in one hand to show to Sookyung later, he puts on a tight-knitted poncho to warm himself up – it doesn’t help that much.

He would light a glowstone and heat his room this way, but Jongdae doesn’t plan to stay for long – he has to find Sookyung and tell her about his research. She should be with the Dreamtree, still sending off leaves.

Jongdae grabs a scarf before he exits his room and it’s not long until he reaches the treeline surrounding the Dreamtree. Flying without trees around him is always uncomfortable, but today it’s worse and Jongdae doesn’t realize what’s wrong at first. The air is still cold, almost freezing now.

Something tickles his wings, it feels wet and when Jongdae turns his head to look he doesn’t see anything. But a few seconds later it repeats and the closer he gets to the Dreamtree it starts to stop feeling like tickles and more like stings.

His wings grow colder as well and when something wet lands on Jongdae’s nose, his eyes widen.

It snows.

At the realization, his head snaps up and he flies higher to inspect the tree crown. There are big parts without leaves, which means Sookyung already sent them off. But through those openings, Jongdae can see an unusual white colour spreading above. He tilts his head to see more.

A snowflake gets caught in his eyelashes and Jongdae has to blink.

It’s truly snowing.

These are snow clouds.

In Autumnforest. Snow clouds.

What the flutterpuff is happening?

Jongdae is stunned, frozen in the air and blinking away stray snowflakes. His fingers curl into the fabric of his clothes, clutching the notebook close to his chest and his hair starts to feel damp – the snowflakes falling upon it melting.

It’s a new sensation, one he has never felt before – Jongdae only experienced snow once.

Before he went through the bonding ceremony, his mentor allowed him to travel around Autumnforest. It was also the time when Jongdae went to Stormeet, watching the lightning fairies follow their calling.

During his travel, he got to the border in the south – where Autumnforest meets Wintertundra.

There, where the treeline thins out into bushes, the seasons create a unique landscape. The weather seemingly not knowing what to bring – rain, snow and wind reign harsh over the beings living there.

Jongdae’s shivering gets worse only at the thought of it.

He didn’t like the snow there – it was different than the snowflakes melting in his eyelashes now.

It was heavier, weighing down everything it touched and covered it in an endless white. Sometimes the snow was soft under his touch, other times it was frozen solid and bit his skin.

With his head still tilted upwards, Jongdae stares at the grey clouds with heavy concern. The snowflakes are melting now, but how long is the cloud already lingering above? How much time has to pass to cool the ground and the trees to allow the snow to stay?

How long until his old friend is endangered to freeze?

Worry grows in Jongdae’s heart once again.

He must find Sookyung and talk to her, to plan their next step.

Still clutching the notebook against his chest, he flies around the branches on search for his apprentice’s mossy shining wings. From time to time his gaze flits across the wood in hopes to either spot Hwasa or Wheein, balancing to better reach for leaves.

There are voices reaching his ears when he gets lower. High and fast paced words - interrupted by long stretched times of heavy silence.

Flying closer, Jongdae’s gaze falls upon Wheein’s strawberry blonde hair peeking through between bare branches. Her back is turned to him, but she has a similar poncho draped around her frail shoulders. When Jongdae looks higher, he meets Sookyung’s eyes.

They grow wide, enhancing her owlish features filled with concern.

The change in her expression causes Wheein to turn around and she sends him a downcast smile, while he comes to a halt in front of them.

“Welcome back, Jongdae.”

“I hope you have better news than we do.” Sookyung sounds distraught, her left hand motions upwards. “The clouds appeared this morning and started snowing a few hours ago. It only got worse since then - we had to take a break due to the cold.”

Jongdae nods, movements tense due to the importance of the information he has to tell. But their duty comes first.

“I have many things to report, but … “ He looks at Sookyung. “Are you okay to finish sending off the leaves with me first?”

She nods, even though her fingers shake around her tuning fork.

Wheein retrieves the other one out of a small bag at her waist and hands it to Jongdae, who in return gives her his notebook. Together with his apprentice, Jongdae starts to send off leaves - they hurry around the branches, faces tense while silver metal touches colourful leaves.

Melodies waft through the cold air and leaves fly away on to their journey, while snowflakes wet wings and shivering skin.

* * *

Luckily, it didn’t take them long.

While they sent off leaves, Wheein climbed down and waited in the shed for them – steadily feeding the glowstone with energy to keep the small room warm. The thought of the heated shed helped them to hurry and soon after, Jongdae and Sookyung joined the sprite at the small table.

Wheein is the first to say something after Jongdae described his findings.

“But this is good, isn’t it?” Her voice is filled with hope. “There is a way to save the Dreamtree.”

Jongdae sighs and opens his lips to answer, but Sookyung is faster.

“It’s impossible to find the summoner fast enough, though.” She bites her lips. “Even when the admins help searching with their registration networks. We don’t have enough information about the being.”

Despite Sookyung’s words, Wheein smiles.

“Then stop panicking about the summoner and start thinking about the saw. It’s true, we don’t know anything about the summoning – but there is no way it doesn’t include ancient magic. Such old energy can’t stay unnoticed. Someone must have felt something.”

“That’s something the admins would document.” Jongdae jots it down into his notebook. “It’s worth a try.”

“Your notes from the archive will help as well. But we still can’t assert what’s wrong with the saw …” Sookyung rubs her eyes, sighing. “It will help to raise the priority of the case for the admins at least.”

Jongdae nods and looks at his notes, summarizing their thoughts.

“So, we need to inform the admins about the Singing Saw and the unknown changes, her connection to the summoner – who might be an autumn fairy. Also, the admins need to research for possible signs of victims and the summoning.” Jongdae looks up. “Anything else?”

Sookyung shakes her head.

“Then someone has to go and deal with the admins.” Jongdae puts down his pen and rubs his eyes. “But we also have to do something about the snow, we can’t just sit it out.”

Now Wheein is frowning as well, nodding.

“I agree.” She pulls the notebook closer to herself, reading over a few lines. “The summoning and the clouds can’t be a coincidence. Snow clouds don’t just appear here, magic must be involved. But Hwasa could smell the cold before the clouds appeared, which means it’s natural to some extent.”

“Right,” Sookyung crosses her arms in thoughts, “I remember her being agitated. Is that why she retreated back to your den?”

Wheein nods.

“She wanted to make sure it’s safe in case a storm follows.” She closes the notebook with a sigh. “Even if it upsets Hwasa, I think it’s best to separate. I can talk to the admins,” Her lips form a smile, “You did good with writing down the ID number of the archive files - the admins won’t have anything to say against such proof.”

“Thank you.” Jongdae mirrors her smile. “You better keep the notebook then.”

Sookyung clears her throat, which causes them to break eye-contact and to look at the fairy.

“You said the clouds are somewhat natural …” She sounds deep in thought. “Then, how do snow clouds start to exist? I never questioned that before.”

“Well …” Jongdae chuckles a bit, “I know the winter season is responsible for bringing snow to earth. I guess it’s not wrong to say they also create snow clouds?”

“But why is it here?” Sookyung grumbles. “Why to send a snow cloud to the Dreamtree?”

At this, an uneasy feeling starts to hold Jongdae’s heart in a tight grasp.

“To hurt him.” His voice shakes for a second. “They must be made from magic to last in our season and thus, they are placed deliberately.”

He looks up and meets Sookyung’s scared eyes. Jongdae feels how his throat gets tight.

“Someone truly wants to see the Dreamtree defeated.”

The air is tense after his words, the truth finally voiced and spoken aloud. Jongdae gulps.

“Maybe this has something to do with the Singing Saw as well.”

Slowly, Sookyung nods.

“That’s possible. It only strengthens the need to investigate this.”

“You mean someone has to travel to Wintertundra?” Wheein sounds unsure, hands fidgeting with the notebook. “Besides the cold, how do you imagine it? Just flying around and asking everybody you meet?”

“I’ll-“

“No,” Jongdae cuts his apprentice’s answer with a shake of his head. “This would lead nowhere. But if I’d go, the admins at the border would be willing to tell me where to look if I’d ask, especially when I explain the situation.”

“And Sookyung wouldn’t achieve the same thing?” Wheein frowns. “Don’t you think it’s better if you’d stay with the Dreamtree, Jongdae?”

“The admins don’t know me. They’d never believe my words, but since Jongdae can prove his bond he’ll have better chances to get answers.” She bites her lip. “Hopefully his position gives him some kind of influence in Wintertundra as well.”

“I don’t know that,” Jongdae has a small smile on his lips - he doesn’t feel like all hope’s lost any longer, “but I visited the border once, they’ll answer me. It is a better starting point for the search in Wintertundra than anything else I can think of.”

Wheein and Sookyung hum, the latter nodding.

“Then you better pack your things and start this travel as soon as possible.” Sooykung sends him a sad smile. “I know you just arrived, but it’s best to not stall time. We don’t know how long it will take …”

Jongdae nods with a sigh, a faint pain pulses through his wings at the thought of the upcoming travel. There’s another thing, though.

“Soo … are you’re sure you can manage the leaves on your own for so long?”

“I’m honest, it does take longer without you. But we don’t have another choice and I will give my best to uphold our calling.”

“Hwasa can help!” Wheein says with a smile. “I’ll talk to her before I go, she’ll help.”

“Then I leave my tuning fork with you again.”

“Do you think …” Sookyung sounds contemplative, “Do you think you should take your Diapasons with you?”

“Ah, I think so.” Jongdae grimaces. “Even when I hope they won’t be needed.”

“But it’s better to be safe than sorry. We can’t know what possible danger you’ll face.” Wheein’s voice is laced with worry again. “Make sure to pack as many warm clothes as you own.”

“Of course!” His own voice is close to a chuckle. “I don’t want to freeze my wings off.”

Sookyung joins his chuckling.

“Should I cook you some rations?”

Jongdae shakes his head.

“No, I’m afraid it’ll freeze and I won’t have a reliable source of fire. I just take my energy bars with me, they’ll have to do.” He stands up with his hands remaining on the tabletop. He looks at his friends with an apologetic smile. “I don’t want to say goodbye so soon again, but we really need to act fast.”

Wheein stands up as well, mirroring his small smile.

“I’ll go now then. Fly fast and please, stay safe.” They meet at the end of the table and she looks up into his eyes. “Return fast and unharmed, Jongdae.”

Jongdae has to swallow a lump, her words let him realize the depth of his travel. He feels how he’s getting emotional and when he leans down to hug Wheein, he hides the wetness of his eyes in her hair.

“I will.”

Small hands press into his clothes for the last time, then he’s released. Wheein smiles to Sookyung in goodbye and then she’s outside the door.

Jongdae and Sookyung stay frozen for a second.

Slowly, Jongdae turns around to look at his apprentice. She’s staring at her feet now, shuffling from one leg onto the other.

“Please, promise me you’ll return.” Her voice shakes. “I don’t … I can’t imagine losing you.”

Her words have Jongdae clear his throat and he blinks a few times to clear his blurred sight. With only a few steps he’s close to Sookyung, holding his arms open in invitation.

She looks up, eyes shining with tears as well and then they hug – a tight embrace, speaking words they both can’t voice. The shared feeling of companionship, of a deep connection between them – the knowledge of not being completely alone.

Jongdae swallows several times, before he’s able to speak again.

“I promise you, Soo. I will return to you.”

* * *

It’s different than his travel to the archive.

Jongdae thought the way to the archive was long, his wings hurting after the day-long flight – even with breaks. But now, after flying one day straight, despite being energised by the anxiety, he realizes he’s truly not used to fly long distances.

His first night at a tree ark was filled with pained groans.

The second day he opted to take more breaks. Between the flying and navigating through tree trunks, he stops at branches to rest his wings – which are heavy and hurting, despite the breaks. The pain he felt back then at the archive seems like a small bug bite in face of now.

Because now – the tips of his wings don’t appear to ever be straight again. He feels the strain on them, especially when he stops moving. When he takes a break, Jongdae leans back against a trunk and spreads them with a groan, stretching the delicate membrane. To regain feeling in the tips, he bends them down and massages the edges with careful caresses.

While doing so, his feet dangle down and with his heavy backpack tied to his front, he closes his eyes to find at least some rest in the next minutes. Jongdae allows himself to get lost in the sounds of the forest.

Birdsong reaches his ears and after a few moments, the familiar pitter patter of raindrops meeting the roof of leaves above joins the forest’s orchestral sounds. When he focuses on truly listening, Jongdae can hear a group of deer in the distance – their hooves rustling on the ground with each step, the huffing sound of their deep breathes.

There’s occasional flapping of wings when birds fly around or the buzzing of insects seeking shelter from stray raindrops falling through the leaves.

One falls upon his neck, running into his collar and Jongdae shivers – the water uncomfortable on his skin, coldness running through his veins since two days ago.

With a sigh which sounds more like a groan, he gets up and loosens the knot of his backpack. A grip inside and Jongdae retrieves Sookyung’s map alongside a small compass. After checking his position and adjusting his route, he puts them back inside the thick fabric. Placing the bag onto his lower back and tying the cord of it around his front, Jongdae stretches his wings one last time and sighs.

Then – he jumps.

* * *

The next day, Jongdae finds shelter in a small tree ark. It’s early in the evening, the sun is starting her descend to meet the horizon in their daily embrace. Jongdae would have flown further, but there are fewer tree arks in the area, why? - he doesn’t know.

This one is in a bad condition, which means Jongdae has to press himself against the wall, covered with his poncho and a thicker blanket. In his sitting position, with his knees against his chest and his arms slung around them - his toes start to tickle and twitch from holding still for too long.

There’s a coldness in his veins, never leaving him since the day he left the Dreamtree. No matter how much energy he sends into the small glowstone, perched atop his knees, the cold feeling doesn’t disappear.

Jongdae ate a few hours ago, yet his stomach growls in hunger. But since he doesn’t know how long he’ll travel in Wintertundra itself, he’s following a strict diet – which includes eating less while staying in Autumnforest to safe food for the winter season.

If he’s reading the map correctly, he still has one or two days until he reaches the border control.

And then he’ll leave Autumnforest completely.

It was something Jongdae never did before, he never was on his own for so long in a different season and whenever he thinks of it, anxiety starts to grow in his mind. It slowly spreads through his veins, letting his hands join his twitching toes. It has him overthinking his travel, his mission.

Of failing in finding the source of the snow clouds.

Of being ignored by the winter fairies.

Of freezing to death before he could even ask any winter being.

Of not doing enough to save the Dreamtree – bearing the guilt for the decease of his old friend.

He knows, the last one is a bit exaggerated – but he can’t blame his scared thoughts. They feed into his anxiety, making it difficult to cope with the scary distance between his beloved and himself.

His heart beats faster at the thought - missing Sookyung. Hwasa and Wheein.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Jongdae realizes how close he is to them. Especially his apprentice - despite the possibility of losing Sookyung after her bonding ceremony, the physical distance between them now shows him how much he actually cares about her.

Jongdae knows, even though he kept an emotional distance with the mentor-apprentice relationship – Sookyung has a place in his heart. A place which feels lonely now, joining his constant longing for a partner.

A partner.

Like Hwasa and Wheein …

Jongdae shakes his head to clear away the impending jealousy. To distract himself, he draws pattern onto the blanket until he feels the familiar stretch in the bond.

Inhaling a deep breath, Jongdae braces himself for the rush of energy leaving him. He clenches his jaw at the sting accompanying it, exhaling when he feels the exhaustion washing over him afterwards.

With a low _thunk_ , his forehead slumps against the wall, eyelids closing and fingers twitching into his blanket.

* * *

Suppressing a yawn, Jongdae glides his hand down a white trunk – feeling the bumps of it under his fingertips. He steps forward, hand connecting with another tree.

These are different than the trees around the Dreamtree.

They are taller, with a slim white bark which stands out against the dark ground beneath. Their golden leaves are delicate yet strong in number, they appear like a royal crown keeping watch.

Jongdae can’t get enough of touching the bark, following slanted silver lines, adorning them. They look like an artist’s brush strokes, free and wild.

It does feel more chaotic here, there are parts with almost no trees where Jongdae can make use of his speed on short range. But there are also parts like this one where he has to walk, because the trees grow so close – their crowns intertwining, making it impossible to fly through them.

Jongdae tried to fly above, but the wind is stronger there – it bends the lonelier trees and rustles the connected tree crowns, creating sounds similar to a rainstorm. After struggling to hold up against it, he decided it’s better to walk in these parts.

With time, his back starts to feel scratchy from the backpack, so Jongdae ties it to his front instead. It’s convenient, he can rummage through it to retrieve the nuts he found this morning. While munching on them, Jongdae tries to think of what to say to the admins at the border control – hoping they can give him helpful advice on where to start.

There’s a coldness on his skin, in his veins and Jongdae doesn’t want to think about the cold, the snow and ice awaiting him. About the freezing nights he’ll have to endure.

His hand slips from the bark when his thoughts wander back to the Dreamtree. He’s cold, too. Turning numb in the farther branches, rustling them to regain sensation – Jongdae knows, feels it in his bond when he focuses on it enough to ignore the sting.

At least the border admins won’t question his words about the snow clouds – despite the ridiculousness of the situation. They’ll recognize him as the Dreamtree guardian like Sohee did, due to his hair. It helps him to stay calm when he thinks about the next day – his expected arrival at the border.

* * *

The closer he gets to the border control, the more he misses the white-golden trees.

Since the late evening yesterday, they started to thin out and get replaced by a dark green colour. Pines, spruces and other coniferous trees take over the reign of broad-leafed trees. Their needles paint the forest in a deep hue, almost as dark as the depth of a shadow.

But when the sun hits them at a certain angle, the needles start to shine – silver and white.

When Jongdae flies above the sharp tree crowns, he’s careful not to touch them with his feet to avoid disturbing the eerie silence. He accidentally brushed against a tree crown earlier, the sound reverberating like a forgotten echo throughout the forest.

In this moment, Jongdae realized how _silent_ it is.

No birds humming or flying through the air, no deer walking upon the fallen needles – only the fluttering of Jongdae’s wings. He makes an effort to fly faster since then, uneasiness growing with each flap of his wings. With his eyes darting around Jongdae feels threatened for the first time. His ears strain to listen for any snap of a branch or another’s wings.

There’s nothing but silence.

It continues for several minutes, maybe hours – his uneasy mind is focused on his immediate surroundings rather than the sun’s journey. His tense shoulders only relax, when he’s able to spot the border control in the distance.

Three huge spruce trees jut out of the deep green needle ocean. Their trunks are enormous, round and clearly grown to house more than just beings, but shelves with documents too. They are connected, branches growing into each other – wide enough for a fairy to walk inside.

Jongdae spots an entrance on the right tree, located rather low – it appears as if the tree crowns beneath reach for the corners of the door. The door handle is cold under his touch and Jongdae takes a deep breath before he opens it, stepping inside.

A sudden heat encases him, thick air with a metallic taste on his tongue. Jongdae has to blink a few times and change to deeper inhales to accommodate the change in temperature. The sound of shuffling paper and a drawer being opened attract Jongdae’s attention.

His gaze wanders upon a long service desk, small stationary boxes separating it discreetly into booths. The only occupied one is on the far right - a petite back facing him. The fairy has short silver hair, a stark contrast to the black tips of their ears and the dark grey standard admin uniform.

When Jongdae steps closer, the fairy turns around at the sound of the door closing behind him. His shoulders straighten on instinct at the stern look falling upon him, the fairy’s silver eyebrows tense and thin lips pressed into a firm line.

“Hello,” Their voice is the exact opposite to customer friendly. “what can I do for you?”

Jongdae gulps. _Great_ , a grumpy admin.

“Eh, I want to travel around Wintertundra,” he steps closer until he’s in front of them, “but I’ve never crossed borders before.”

The fairy nods and grips some sheets from below the countertop as well as a pen. It gets shoved into his direction.

“Then read this and if you want, you can fill out the survey on the back.” A sigh. “It would help us to improve our service for travellers.”

Jongdae takes the things with a nod.

“If the leaflet causes any uncertainties concerning the luggage, I can check your …” The fairy tilts their head to look behind Jongdae, ”your _bag_ , to see if you’re prepared as best as possible.”

Jongdae’s eyebrows rise at the strange reaction and he fidgets with the sheets and pen.

“Thank you, eh …” His gaze strays from their stern face, to look for a name tag. “-Neva. I’ll come back to the offer.”

“Well, I’m here.”

After another nod, Jongdae steps back and looks around for a more comfortable place to read than in front of the grumpy admin. But as he noticed when he entered, there is only the long service counter separating the room into two parts – one for travellers and one for the admins. The latter is filled with file cabinets and strange cupboards with many tiny drawers.

Disappointed at the lack of seats, Jongdae brings some distance between the grumpy admin, _Neva,_ and himself by walking next to the counter. Two booths away, he stops and takes a look at the sheets.

The first starts nice and welcoming, introducing the culture and possible places to visit – mainly spectacular landscapes like a park with ice sculptures or a frozen waterfall. Sceptical, Jongdae raises an eyebrow when he reads of a petting zoo with arctic foxes. Hwasa, as a fox sprite herself, would be wary of it for sure.

Turning to the next sheet, there’s an ad in between – a brown, round piece of paper. A curved font advertises a party at a place called Snowrich and informs about its theme being literally nuts. Jongdae chuckles, amused by the strange theme and only now does he realize the paper is shaped like a walnut. Curious, he checks the printed date and with a slight pout he reads that it was six days ago.

Placing the nut-shaped paper onto the countertop, Jongdae looks at the second sheet – with a long list of necessary preparations and things to pack, which almost takes up the whole page. At the bottom starts another list, stating warnings about the main threats of Wintertundra - Jongdae hesitates before he reads that one.

His anxiety already had a feast on all the possible dangerous things happening to him and Jongdae isn’t sure if he wants actual facts to support these fears. Jongdae skims through the list as fast as possible and it shows him, he’ll definitely need to make use of Neva’s offer – he’s not sure if his things meet the requirements.

Like thick blankets and clothes – is his blanket’s yarn thick enough?

Is his poncho too open?

Is his bag’s fabric too thin and thus unable to keep the things inside safe during snowstorms?

Is that the reason why the fairy reacted so strange to it?

Jongdae’s gaze flits to Neva, their slim silhouette turning from one cupboard to another in a smooth rhythm. He can make out how they scroll through several papers, apparently scanning the pages on search for something. While doing so, their uniform rides up to their elbow – exposing delicate wrists with black blotches of skin, similar to the skin of Sohee, the archive fairy Jongdae met a few days ago. Based on this, Jongdae assumes these are typical for admin fairies and that the placement of the black blotches differ from fairy to fairy.

Jongdae assumes the dark grey uniform is meant to compliment them – he doesn’t know what else could be the reason for such a colourless choice. He prefers the Dreamtree’s colourful leaves, glad that they never fail to make things different and interesting.

A sigh leaves his lips at the nostalgic thought and he focuses back onto the sheets.

Looking at the last page, Jongdae clicks the pen and writes his name as well as answers to the questions of the survey – but mainly to express his gratitude for their provided services. He knows how helpful they are first-hand after all and despite the admin fairy being grumpy, he knows a simple _thank you_ can cheer up everyone.

When he looks up, he meets Neva’s gaze – their eyes wide and eyebrows high in astonishment. Jongdae sends them a smile, glad to see another expression on their sharp features. Which change into a surprised one, thin lips opened and eyebrows even higher than before. It’s a cute sight, which prompts Jongdae to brighten his smile and the fairy’s cheeks turn red before they turn around with an audible _huff_.

Chuckling to himself, Jongdae organizes the sheets into a neat stack and walks back to the flustered fairy. Their back is still facing him and just now does Jongdae see the wings completely – they are translucent, almost like glass. On top of that, the tips of the two appendages look rather sharp and unusually solid for the flexible wings of fairies.

Jongdae doesn’t get more time to look at them though, because Neva noticed his presence and turns around. Their eyes are wide in expectation. He hands them the sheets and when their gaze lands on the filled-out survey, a small smile forms on their lips.

“So,” Neva looks down at the survey with a quick glance again, “Jongdae, do you have any questions?”

He nods.

“I’m afraid the fabrics are not thick enough and won’t keep me and my things warm.”

“Well, then let me get a look into your bag.” Neva motions to his backpack and Jongdae unties the ropes holding it in place. The following _thunk_ appears too loud in the quiet room and he winces, but the other fairy doesn’t seem bothered by it.

They loosen the tie of the main compartment and after a look inside, Neva unpacks it with careful movements. Slowly, the countertop gets covered with Jongdae’s things. Now that he sees everything he packed laid out in front of him, Jongdae grimaces – it will be a hassle to get it all back into the backpack. Apparently, the second something leaves the depth of the bag, it refuses to fit back inside as it did before.

Neva looks inside the bag once more to check if they got everything, then they grip inside and test the fabric of it with their hands – one inside and the other rubs against it from outside. A knowing smile forms on their lips.

“As I expected your bag is too fine. It probably won’t protect your things in case the fabric freezes.” Neva looks at something below the countertop, fingers rustling through something which sounds like thicker paper - while Jongdae touches the fabric himself. It suddenly feels as fragile as a flower petal under his fingertips.

“I can give you some stuffing,” Neva’s voice rips him out of his thoughts, “to cushion your things. There should be some of it left in our storage.”

“That would be great!” Jongdae smiles, glad about the service.

Neva nods and looks at the other things on the counter. They lift a green pouch made out of a huge leaf, fingers tracing its lines with curiosity.

“I guess this is your water bag?”

Jongdae nods.

“It’s from Springmeadow, made with a water lily leaf. There’s a glowstone inside to prevent it from freezing.”

Neva hums and puts it back onto the countertop. Next are the energy bars – which get an approving nod and a remark about changing to something more nutritious if his travel lasts longer than a week.

Jongdae’s tent and sleeping bag take up most of the place on the counter. Neva grips the sleeping bag and a blanket first, inspecting their fabric the same way they did with the bag. An approving hum leaves their lips, before the tent gets checked next – opening the tarpaulin and touching the fabric as well.

Silver eyebrows start to raise.

When Neva tests the tent poles, clicking them together and detaching them again, their lips form a tense line. Another look at the tarpaulin and their eyebrows rise higher.

“Your tent is quite flimsy.” Neva clears their throat. “But your sleeping bag and blanket will do to keep you warm. Even though they are rather small.”

“These were gifts from befriended sprites,” Jongdae chuckles, “and they tease me about my height …”

“Which is why these are so small? I don’t get that humour.” Neva shakes their head. “Anyways, there’s one thing left – you only have a map for Autumnforest.”

Jongdae’s eyes widen when he realizes his mistake. Neva’s lips curl at their edges and a light chuckle escapes them.

“You’re traveling to Wintertundra for the first time without a proper map – _that_ is funny.” Their voice sounds amused, yet their eyes look gentle. “But don’t worry, we’ve got enough maps to equip a whole flock of birds. Please wait a moment, Jongdae.” Neva is still smiling. “I’ll go and get the map and stuffing.”

A relieved sigh leaves his lips, the initial uneasiness erased by their reassuring words. He mirrors the smile and leans against the counter to wait. It doesn’t take long until Neva returns.

Without a word, Neva starts to pack the things back into the backpack. The stuffing they brought goes inside first, cushioning the following things. Jongdae’s eyes grow wide when Neva shows no problem with packing – arranging everything like a puzzle to fit inside. He tries to explain it with their better experience – not that Jongdae is simply bad at packing.

“You’re good to go now.” Neva ties the ropes to close the bag. “Anything else?”

Jongdae nods, remembering the words he prepared.

“I’m here for a reason. Something … bad happened and I need to know who it was.”

“And I assume it has to do with the Dreamtree?”

“Yes.”

Neva nods, silver eyebrows frowning.

“That would explain why the Dreamtree’s guardian travels such a great distance. I was curious when I recognized your colourful hair, but I didn’t want to offend.”

Jongdae takes a deep breath before he answers.

“I will tell you what happened, but please keep it a secret.” Neva opens their mouth to respond, but he hurries to continue. “I am investigating on my own to find a solution, but the responsible admin is already informed, don’t worry.”

There’s a nod, but the fairy still seems wary.

“I know it sounds unbelievable, but … the Dreamtree is in danger. A-“ Jongdae clears his throat, “a snow cloud appeared.”

“So deep in Autumnforest?” Neva sounds just as stunned as Jongdae had felt. “This is not what I expected … is the cloud still there?”

“It is.” He grimaces, the coldness still lingers in his veins. “I hoped you could give me advice on where to start my search for the culprit, so I can bring an end to this.”

Neva nods and looks deep in thoughts, eyebrows once again frowning and lips forming a thin line.

“There are two snow cloud factories in Wintertundra. But to create a cloud so far into the forest …” A thoughtful hum leaves their lips. “I would advise you to start with the closest factory. I can’t imagine why, but they would be able to reach that far into another season with their clouds.”

Relieved to have a starting point, Jongdae feels his shoulders relax and he didn’t even notice them being tense.

“And where-“ Neva interrupts his question by opening his backpack again, pulling out the map of Wintertundra. After spreading it on the countertop, Jongdae can make out four different shades of blue – the deepest located in the middle and with each uneven circle around it the colour gets lighter. A slender finger points to a cross in the second lightest area, on the east side of the map – next to it a cloud with three snowflakes beneath.

“This is Snowrich, the factory is close to the village.”

Jongdae hums, recognizing the name from the nut-shaped ad. So, he’ll get to see the place after all.

“It will take you up to five days to get there, maybe seven if you have to wait out a snowstorm. But it should be bearable, the two outer circles are not that cold.” Their finger remains on the cross, but Neva looks up to him. “I’m sorry that I can’t tell you a name, but I hope you find the responsible one in Snowrich.”

“Thank you.” Jongdae sends them a bright smile, grateful for a place to start his search. “This is everything I’ve hoped for.”

* * *

The coniferous forest which Jongdae passed through on the way to the border control reaches beyond the season, rows and rows of pines and firs. It’s different from what Jongdae expected – when he travelled to the border before, the forest gave way to bushes instead of tall, needle armed trees.

They grow farther apart now, allowing Jongdae to walk between them instead of flying above. A few hours after leaving the border control, he felt too cold and to rest his wings, walking had to do. With a small smile, Jongdae realized the cold is more bearable between the trees – which is why he sticks to flying or walking around the either bare tree trunks or wide needle armed branches.

Jongdae is glad to be surrounded by trees, even when their needles are far from colourful and the silence he felt threatened by earlier is still lingering in the air. At first, the paranoid feeling wouldn’t leave him. His ears still strained to listen to unusual sounds, eyes searching for threats hiding behind the trees.

But after hours with crunching of dried leaves and branches under his shoes as his only companion, his mind starts to relax. So do his shoulders, slowly sagging under the weight of his backpack.

The ropes of it start to hurt, a constant pressure digging through the fabric into his skin and Jongdae is sure, when he arrives at the village, his skin will be red and blue. No matter how often he changes the positioning or how differently he ties the rope – there are only so many ways a rope can be tied around a body.

With the passing of time, snowflakes start to fall from the sky – small specks of white twirling through the air down to earth. Some touch Jongdae’s wings, causing them to shudder the first times it happens but not for long. When the snowfall increases, the constant feeling of snowflakes melting on his wings and the slushing sound of snow under his shoes fade away into his unconsciousness.

Deep green needles which were spared of earlier snowfalls are slowly covered as well. Powdery fluff hides their rich hues and steals the forest of the little colour it had. And when the sun starts its journey to meet the horizon, the tall trees cover the sleepy sunrays earlier than Jongdae expected. The forest is tinted in grey since then.

When Jongdae sits in his tent, covered with a blanket and arms circling his knees against his chest, when a glowstone is the only source of an orangey light – his heart aches.

Jongdae misses the oranges and reds and yellows of autumn.

* * *

The next morning, Jongdae’s heart and body ache due to another reason.

He had another nightmare.

Jongdae is glad not to remember much of it after waking up with a start – drenched in sweat and tears clinging to his cheekbones. Only pictures of shredded wood, resin dripping from leaves and the sound of someone’s cries linger, leaving a gaping emptiness in his mind. He couldn’t stomach the few bites he had from his energy bars.

The empty feeling isn’t leaving, neither when Jongdae feels the dreamtree falling asleep in their bond nor when he continues his travel. Dull is everything around him, the white snow covers _so much_.

Grey tree trunks are the only colour disrupting the monotone forest. Sensations are lost to Jongdae – no more stinging of the rope, no pricking of needles when he gets too close to a tree. He doesn’t registrate his lashes fluttering when a snowflake gets caught or his fingers twitching to hide from a cold gust of wind.

This night, Jongdae falls asleep with an ache in his body, empty stomach rumbling and mind numb. He isn’t conscious when his bond stretches, energy flowing out of him until the exhaustion wipes out any trace of a nightmare.

* * *

Still numb, but not as unaware of his surroundings as yesterday, Jongdae flies above wide fields of white. He was surprised by the change – the tall trees simply ended, giving way to grass and reddish bushes. Not that Jongdae can see them well, the snow is clinging to every available surface and still paints everything white-grey and dull.

Now that the trees can’t provide any shelter against the cold wind any longer, the uncomfortable feeling Jongdae would have in such an open area gets replaced by coldness.

The cold air is stingy and sharp. Jongdae is used to the winds in the forest, but these are different. The coldness bites his cheeks and lets his hands twitch and wings go stiff. It blows snowflakes into his face and eyes and nose – it’s so cold and it _hurts_.

He has to take more breaks to gather his energy, to allow his wings time to rest and yet Jongdae must be careful not to keep them still for too long or they get too stiff. While walking upon crunching grass he makes sure to flutter them from time to time, to remember them they are supposed to be working.

The next time Jongdae stops to shuffle off the collected snow on his shoes, he retrieves his water bag to wet his dry mouth. His jaw is tense, grinding to withstand the cold touch of the wind. The water lily leaf feels stiff as well, with a frown Jongdae feels how light the bag is – he has to refill it.

After gulping down everything left in it, he opens the string at the top as wide as possible and pulls one of his mittens off to reach inside. With his lips pressed into a firm line, he tries to catch the glowstone and after a few attempts he’s able to pull it outside.

The stone wanders into one of his pants pockets, Jongdae crouches down to gather snow and stuff it into the bag’s opening. Jongdae never likes this part, he prefers to keep the snow as clear as possible – which is why he collects it with his bare hand instead of the mitten-covered one. It also helps to keep his mittens relatively dry and therefore warmer.

His fingers start to feel numb, but the bag isn’t that big which means there can’t fit that much snow inside anyways. Jongdae pulls out the glowstone and sends enough energy into it to make it hot – placing it onto the snow and closing the water bag to let the snow melt in peace.

With a shudder he puts the mitten back on and carefully places the water bag into his backpack. Rolling his shoulders to avoid tensing up too much, Jongdae braces himself and continues to face the cold gusts of wind.

* * *

Jongdae’s breathing is strained and his eyes are wide open, but he can’t make out anything.

Everything is coloured milky white, there’s an invisible pressure on his body and the air smells weird – muggy and stuffy on his tongue. Each inhale feels heavy and when breath leaves his chapped lips, the white air doesn’t seem to move at all.

It isn’t as freezing as yesterday, but instead of the cold biting his cheeks there is the numbing coldness in his body. When Jongdae lifts his hands in front of his face he can see them shaking and with a gasp he realizes his bond is the source of the ice in his veins.

Biting his lips, he shuffles back into his tent and with shaky movements he closes the tarp of his tent to hide from the all-encompassing whiteness. His stomach grumbles and Jongdae follows its calling, retrieving an energy bar and sitting down to munch on it. The jitters of his hands do not cease, sometimes clinking the bar against his teeth – together with an occasionally crunch of a nut, there are no other sounds reaching his ears.

With his knees against his chest, nibbling on the rest of the energy bar and feeling the dense air heavy with each breath … Jongdae starts to yearn for Sookyung’s cooking, the warmth and familiarity it provided.

He regrets not allowing her to cook for him. At least this way he’d had something with him to remind him of his friend. With an aching heart and heavy eyelids, Jongdae wonders how Sookyung and the sprites are doing. Hopefully, they are not facing the same freezing cold like he is …

A harsh gust of wind rustling the tent startles Jongdae.

Oh crumbcake, what is he doing? Sitting around won’t do anything!

With still jittery hands he retrieves the map and compass to check his route. To refocus on his mission. It’s not that far anymore, not even a day away. Adrenaline starts to pump through his body, replacing the chilly cold for the next few sweet minutes.

When he steps outside, the air is still milky but not as dense as before. Jongdae doesn’t know what time it is – so he hurries to disassemble the tent and stuff everything inside the backpack, determined to make it to Snowrich before nightfall.

* * *

With his eyes scanning the horizon and one hand clutching his compass, Jongdae hopes to spot a sign of civilization. Paths, silhouettes of houses or even a winter fairy themselves.

It’s already late in the afternoon or early evening, Jongdae isn’t sure. But he has to be close to the village – he followed the map as best as he could and Neva would have said something if his compass was faulty. Jongdae doesn’t even know how a compass could be faulty and his brain is too exhausted to think about it further.

Suddenly, his ankle stings and with a gasp Jongdae stumbles, hands outstretched to cushion his fall. His nose meets powdery snow while his knees sink into the cold grass and he blinks in surprise. After a few deep breaths, Jongdae moves his ankle carefully and sighs when it doesn’t hurt. He gets up with a quiet _huff_ and turns around to inspect what caused his fall.

At first, he doesn’t see anything. But after crouching down and feeling around, Jongdae realizes that the ground forms a mound. A poke into it proves it’s solid and curious to see what it is exactly, Jongdae wipes away the snow and his lips curl into a smile.

A glowstone.

But why is it here? Are there _more_?

Jongdae looks around, squinting his eyes and he spots the same deformation of snow a meter away to his left. He steps to it and frees the glowstone beneath from its snow blanket. His gaze wanders to his left again, searching for … there, another one!

It still doesn’t answer why they are here, but at least he knows what to do with a glowstone - feed it with energy. As he does so, the stone to his right also starts to glow and when he sends more energy, a dim row of lights appears beneath the snow. It leads farther to his left and disappears behind a small hill.

An involuntary cry leaves his lips, happy to finally have something physical to follow and lead him to the village – hopefully. After checking the direction, the lights are indicating with his compass, Jongdae is sure they are a path to Snowrich. Straightening himself and rushing along the row of glowstones, Jongdae feels adrenaline pump through his veins instead of ice. He’ll be there soon.

He only comes to a stop when strange globes appear in front of him. The parts of them not covered in snow reveal solid ice, glinting under tired sunshine. The glowstone path continues between the globes and Jongdae decides to follow it. He is careful not to touch anything while he passes through the strange ice things, noticing their varying height and when he spots a dark wooden door, he realizes these globes are _houses_.

And then his eyes widen, because he’s in Snowrich! He did it!

A look around doesn’t show any kind of signage, so Jongdae continues following the glowstone path. The stones are smaller now, but without any snow covering them and it’s easy to spot them. Motivation lets Jongdae’s heart beat faster while his steps encounter less snow and the ice globes increase in number. Some of them even glow from the inside, but only at a few spots.

The sound of a door slammed shut reaches his ears and Jongdae turns into the direction of it, but he doesn’t see anything except of a closed door. But then, he hears it – footsteps.

A few meters in front of him is a small crossing and from the right, a fairy appears. Their gazes cross for a second, but before Jongdae can utter a word, the fairy is rushing away. Confused by their reaction, he stares at their retreating back. But he decides against following them but the path they came from instead. He gets ignored again before Jongdae realizes he’s on the way to the centre of the village. There are more glowstones illuminating the path and the surrounding globes start to have different shapes, more oval or rectangular.

There are more fairies, too. Leaving globes and rushing away in groups, some of them stare at him with their dark eyes but nobody approaches. When a fairy exits a door close to Jongdae, he steps in front of them with a small smile and an “Excuse me.” on his lips. But the fairy only widens their black eyes, turns around and hurries back into the door they came from.

What the flutterpuff?

Jongdae feels like someone literally slammed a door in his face. He didn’t expect to be ignored or even feared – does he look so intimidating? Stepping aside on the path to appear as unthreatening as possible, Jongdae looks down at himself. His brown pants with their comfort fit look weird due to the two leggings beneath, but they don’t appear intimidating at all. Sookyung would even call him a grandpa due to his choice of clothes – even though fairies don’t age physically.

Unaware of his surroundings, Jongdae gets surprised by a shoulder pushing against his and then he’s stumbling backwards. A breathless _oof_ escapes his lips when his back hits the ground. Snow cushions his fall, but due to his backpack he lands in an uncomfortable position. With his lower back whining in pain, Jongdae winces when he feels the sting of snow against his wings.

“I’m so sorry!”

A hand appears in Jongdae’s vision and he grabs it without hesitation. The pull is strong, Jongdae wobbles on his feet due to the momentum. His aide seems to interpret it as a sign of dizziness, a tight grip around his arm steadies Jongdae.

“Did you hit your head?”

“No,” Jongdae twists out of the grasp and pats snow off his butt with a pout, “I’m alright.”

“Thank snowflakes, I got scared for a second.”

At this, Jongdae looks at the fairy for the first time - worried his aide turns out to be scared of him as well. Pitch black feline eyes meet his and they express genuine concern, curved white eyebrows raised high. Jongdae feels lightheaded at the sight.

“I apologize once more,” Raspberry pink lips move, “I wanted to make space for a group, but I didn’t see you and then I got shoved and well …” The plush lips form an embarrassed smile, squishy cheeks turning a faint pink – glowing in the dim street lighting. Jongdae barely remembers to respond.

“It’s okay, nothing happened.”

White hair falls in front of dark eyes, which form little moons while the smile turns brighter – Jongdae has to avert his gaze at the beauty.

“I’m glad, that was quite a rough push.” A pale hand runs through the white hair, while the black eyes give Jongdae a once-over. “You’re a traveller?”

Jongdae nods, tongue suddenly uncooperative.

“Are you only passing through or staying?” The fairy doesn’t wait for Jongdae to answer, but he wouldn’t be able to anyways. “Because our hostel still gets repaired and if you planned to stay there, I advise you to travel to Barfrost and get a room there.”

Overwhelmed by the information, Jongdae stays silent. But his thoughts tumble around inside his mind and anxiety returns to call him dumb - he didn’t even think about where to stay while in Snowrich.

“Uh …” Jongdae forces his tongue to work. “Thank you for the advice?”

“No problem!” Plush lips form a bright smile once more and Jongdae is stunned again. But _crumbcake_ , is the smile beautiful. Blinking to clear his head, Jongdae hears only the end of the fairy’s words. “… help you. I have to go now, but I wish you good luck!”

Scared to lose the only person talking to him, Jongdae grabs the fairy’s arm with his mouth open in a silent _no_. Feline eyes get wide and the eyebrows rise high. Embarrassed, Jongdae averts his gaze once again and it falls on the coat the fairy is wearing. It’s white, but kind of translucent at some parts – revealing striking collarbones and broad shoulders. Jongdae feels the heat rise to his cheeks and stares down instead, but he perks up when he sees an emblem at the shoulder, just above where his hand is clutching the fabric.

It’s a blue stitching in form of a cloud with three snowflakes beneath it and the emblem is used as the sign for the snow cloud factory on his map!

Jongdae’s gaze snaps to the fairy’s face, noticing how the surprised expression turned into a guarded one – eyebrows and lips tense, eyes squinting.

“Uh, you’re- you work at the snow cloud factory?”

The fairy nods, wary.

“I need to talk to your boss!” Smooth, Jongdae, _smooth_. “I mean, would you- could you show me the way to the snow cloud factory, please?”

“It’s closed.”

Jongdae’s eyes grow wide – closed? Is he at the wrong place?

“No, I mean, working hours are over.” The fairy hastens to explain. “You won’t meet anyone there now, especially not my boss.”

“Oh …” His grip loosens and his shoulders as well as wings droop down. His stomach twists at the thought of another day passing by – waiting, doing nothing. But it’s his own fault - Jongdae was so occupied with the travel itself, overwhelmed by the new season that he didn’t plan further. He didn’t think about what to do when he reaches Snowrich – how long he’ll stay, where to stay or even how to approach the whole “ask around”-thing. Jongdae doesn’t want to think about what he’ll do if he doesn’t find the culprit.

“Eh,” The fairy’s voice interrupts his inner turmoil, “You’re an autumn fairy, right?”

When Jongdae looks up, plush lips form a cautious smile and he answers with a nod.

“You look like you’ve travelled far and I’m curious - why do you want to talk to my boss?”

Jongdae blinks to clear his mind and opens his lips to answer – but finds that he can’t. How much should he tell? Should he outright ask the fairy about the snow cloud? Or better keep it a secret? He decides to stay safe and be vague about it.

“There was an occurrence which I need to discuss.” Maybe not that vague. “A snow cloud appeared in Autumnforest.” Too detailed, Jongdae! He regrets his words when he sees the fairy’s face contorting into a grimace. It disappears behind a sympathetic smile only a few seconds later.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” The smile turns tense at the edges. “I hope my boss can help you solve the situation.”

“I hope so, too.”

For a second, their gazes meet and Jongdae feels the awkward silence between them starting to end the conversation. But he wants to talk to the pretty fairy for a bit longer. His eyebrows curl upwards while he thinks about what to say next – but the other is faster.

“Well, what do you plan to do now?”

“Eh … I guess I’ll just sleep in my tent?” Jongdae isn’t sure himself. “Travelling to Barfrost would waste too much time and I can just camp outside the village for a night, I guess.”

“Would you want to sleep in a bed instead?”

His eyes widen, gaze caught by black feline eyes – now much more tender looking.

“You mean – at your place?”

The fairy nods, the smile not as tense as before but rather genuine.

“It’s a shared flat and I can only offer you a guest bed in my room, though.”

“Eh …” Staying with the beautiful fairy sounds unreal. Stunned, Jongdae doesn’t think of any reasons speaking against accepting the offer. “To be honest, any bed sounds better than my sleeping bag at this point.”

The fairy’s laugh sounds clear and of light, lips pulled back in a gummy smile.

“I hope the bed is to your liking then.” The smile dims, turning almost abashed. “Well, since you’re staying with me – my name’s Minseok.”

“Jongdae.” They smile at each other and Jongdae still struggles to believe the offer. His gaze remains on the fairy’s, no _Minseok’s_ , pretty face.

“Okay, then …” Minseok notices his staring and his smile changes into an amused smirk. “We better get going, it’s not that far.”

Jongdae blushes, but nods nonetheless and follows him.

* * *

It truly isn’t far – they only walk for a few more minutes. The slushing sound of their footsteps on the snowy ground and faint echoes of stray conversations of other fairies fill the air between them. Jongdae was afraid the awkward silence would return, but even though they didn’t exchange any words - it doesn’t. Smiles are sent back and forth between them instead, leaving Jongdae blushing again when they stop in front of a globe.

It’s not illuminated like others, a deep blue shadow darkens it from within. The heavy wooden door doesn’t have a door handle but opens at Minseok’s touch. He walks inside and motions Jongdae to follow him. The darkness vanishes seconds after Jongdae enters, two glowstones cast a yellow glow throughout the small room. Jongdae looks around, noticing only a coat rack and a shoe cupboard, but he jumps at a strange sound behind him – looking over his shoulder shows how a white sheen covers the door.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you.” Jongdae turns around to face Minseok again, catching his soothing smile. “Don’t worry, it’s just a mechanism to keep the warmth inside. Please take off your shoes and follow me into the kitchen – I guess you’re hungry?”

“Yes!” Jongdae’s eager answer elicits a chuckle from Minseok, his wings shimmer white when he turns to leave through the only other door. After placing his shoes into the shoe cupboard and hanging his poncho onto the coat rack, Jongdae steps through it as well – backpack clutched in his hands.

He enters a living room, complete with a couch, table and cabinets taking up place in the middle. Four glowstones are perched atop pillars framing the room and lighting it, creating a cosy atmosphere. There are three hatches at the left side of the room, reminding Jongdae of his own tree house with Sookyung. But he doesn’t inspect where they lead to – he walks through a doorway to his right instead, following sounds of bubbling water.

Minseok greets him with a smile and offers him tea. The meal they’re sharing consists of grains and nuts, but as plain as it may sound – Jongdae has to hold back a groan, finally eating something different than his energy bars. He sees Minseok’s amused grin in the corner of his eye and feels too shy to meet his gaze.

Only when he finished his meal does Minseok talk to him, asking questions about Jongdae and Autumnforest. He answers them as best as he can but tries to remain private – keeping his position as a guardian as well as the Dreamtree a secret. Sitting in Minseok’s kitchen lets him realize how easy he trusted and followed him, stunned by his beauty and openness. But Minseok is basically still a stranger and Jongdae doesn’t know how much he can tell him. To evade talking about himself, Jongdae asks questions in return.

Minseok doesn’t appear to have the same qualms about Jongdae, answering with enthusiasm and even revealing further information about himself. His love for literature and exercising, of having a sister who visits him a lot and to whom the guest bed belongs.

“I never met fairy siblings.” Jongdae only realizes this now. “I guess not many end up in Autumnforest, lest in the area where I live.”

Minseok nods and stands up to put away their used dishes. “They’re not common in general, I think. But Junhee and I …” His voice turns sombre. “We’re not lonely, it’s comforting to know someone always got your back.”

Jongdae hums, thinking about his own feeling of loneliness – despite his beloved ones surrounding him. He loses himself in the feeling in face of the obviously deep connection between Minseok and his sister. But it doesn’t last, a yawn stops his moment of self-pitying – apparently also interrupting Minseok, who was informing him that his flatmates will return in two days after their visit to another village.

The other chuckles only though. “You’re tired, I’m sorry for keeping you awake.” He walks to the doorway and sends Jongdae a small smile, raspberry lips curling. “Do you want to see your place for the night?”

The question sounds enticing and Jongdae nods, while he mirrors the smile. Minseok waits until he joins him at the doorway, following the other into the living room. They fly through the hatch on the right and suddenly, Jongdae feels how _tired_ he is. Minseok’s brief instructions about where the bathroom is rushes past him. After Jongdae freshens up and changes into loaned clothes there, he sees the guest bed in a corner of the room – a blanket and pillow stacked neatly onto each other. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it calls to his pained back and exhaustion washes over him at the sight of an actual, fluffy blanket.

Minseok steps into the bathroom, leaving Jongdae alone in his room. He doesn’t hesitate to follow the bed’s call, placing his backpack next to the bed and burying himself into the blanket. Before worry has a chance to take over – his bond starts to sting. Inhaling to prepare himself, Jongdae closes his eyes and lets the energy flow out of himself like so many times before. His fingers clutch the blanket, but beneath it, his bones don’t feel so cold anymore and Jongdae smiles, falling asleep even before Minseok returns.

* * *

When Jongdae awakes, he blinks a few times to recognize his surroundings. It’s not his tent, but the ceiling isn’t completely unfamiliar either. His toes feel warm for once and the blanket tickling his nose smells like lemon. It’s not dark, a glowstone emits a faint light – enough to highlight edges of furniture. The air feels calm, his bond is quiet and for a moment, Jongdae simply _breathes_.

It doesn’t last for long.

There’s a sound coming from above, footsteps and Jongdae tenses. Looking around for any spots to hide, his gaze falls upon a thick wool coat lying on a chair next to his bed and it reminds him where he is. Minseok probably placed it there for him. _Minseok_.

His shoulders relax when his mind recalls feline eyes and a gummy smile. Jongdae sighs and stretches his fingers, joints cracking slightly. The face in questions appears soon after, the hatch in the ceiling opening to reveal black eyes.

“Ah, you’re awake. Breakfast is ready!” Minseok’s smile is bright. “Please hurry, so we can get to the factory in time. I found a coat you can use, it’s probably warmer than your poncho.”

Jongdae only nods in response, but it’s enough for Minseok and he closes the hatch again. His gaze wanders back to the coat and a sudden restlessness spreads in his mind, yet his body refuses to move. Today is important, this is the reason why he travelled so far. But he’s not wiser than yesterday – he still didn’t think about what to say or how to ask the boss who the culprit could be. The realization freezes his muscles, small jolts of anxious energy causing jittery movements in his hands.

A few moments fly by before Jongdae leaves the bed, hands clutched to his chest and his feet find their way into the bathroom. He didn’t pack new clothes, because the tent was more important - it feels a bit dirty to slide into his pants by now. After putting everything he used back into his backpack, Jongdae takes the coat and flies through the hatch to meet Minseok in the kitchen.

Their breakfast is quiet. Minseok is sipping on a cup of tea and after Jongdae averts several conversation attempts with simple grunts, the other seems to understand who of them is a morning fairy and who’s not. Jongdae prefers him thinking that way at least, his anxiety is still building steady - his hands don’t stop shaking.

Minseok noticed his damp mood, but except small smiles Jongdae sees how the fairy doesn’t know how to handle his silence. Jongdae hurries to eat his mash and after he has finished, they put on their shoes and coats. It’s strange for him not to grab his poncho, fingers encountering wool instead. The coat feels heavy on his shoulders and with a frown, he notices there are no openings for his wings. They itch, the wool weighing them down and rubbing on his membrane – Jongdae isn’t sure if he prefers to feel cold instead.

The way to the factory rushes past Jongdae, faces of fairies blurring together. Minseok’s broad back is the only constant in his view, his rounded wings with their pink veins and the white sheen catching Jongdae’s focus. His gaze also gets distracted by strong shoulder blades being visible through the coat Minseok is wearing, a high closed collar with long flowy fabric - translucent and merging with a milky white colour at the bottom. Slightly jealous, Jongdae thinks his coat looks dowdy in comparison.

His thoughts get interrupted by Minseok stepping aside and turning around, his plush lips form a concerned smile. Jongdae comes to a stop as well, mental turmoil stunned by the pretty smile once again and he averts his eyes. His gaze falls upon a strange looking globe – different forms stuck together, but it appears rather sturdy than fragile. A snow cloud lingers above the irregular shaped roof, snowflakes descending upon a double door which is constantly held open by fairies entering.

“Hey,” Minseok tilts his head, seemingly checking if he got Jongdae’s attention, “We’ll have to part ways once we’re inside, it’s rather chaotic. My boss’ room is on the left, but there are signs leading the way as well.”

Jongdae takes in the new information and nods. Instead of worrying about his conversation with Minseok’s boss like before, his anxiety suddenly builds when he thinks about being on his own the whole day again.

“Will we see each other during your break?”

Minseok smiles, cheeks turning squishy.

“I will gladly spend my break with you, just find me in my room around noon, I can adjust.”

“And where is your room?”

“Oh, right, sorry.” His cheeks gain a red hue and he’s _so pretty_. “It’s on the first floor, number ninety-nine.”

Jongdae nods again. Awkwardness fills the space between them for a moment – Minseok shifts from one feet to the other, seemingly not knowing how to bid goodbye for now and Jongdae doesn’t want to part at all. They end up simply nodding for the last time, before Minseok merges with a group of fairies entering the doors and Jongdae stays behind. He hesitates to follow, only stepping inside when the entering groups start to get fewer and fewer.

* * *

The door falling shut behind him doesn’t reach Jongdae’s ears. His mind is far too busy chanting soothing words to himself, calming his anger about how _incompetent_ this boss is – lounging around in his fancy chair, feet on his table. Jongdae had to bite his tongue not to say anything against the rudeness, reminding himself that he’s the one asking for something, searching.

After he explained the situation, leaving out details about where and which being is endangered, the boss had frowned – ensuring Jongdae that everything is going smoothly in his factory and that nobody would break the rules, or he’d be informed about it immediately. His voice always had a tint of honey, advertisement hiding behind a toothy smile.

Jongdae wasn’t able to break the polished façade, but at least he got the boss “looking into it” and a permission to walk around the factory as well as talk to the employees. He couldn’t care less about the boss’ shallow words, roaming around the factory himself sounds better than relying on this rude fairy. So, here he is – outside the boss’ bureau, calming down his anger in favour to stay optimistic about the freedom he got.

Slowly, his feet start to walk down the hall and his mind is distracted by snowflake carvings adorning the white walls. Every few meters, a clock or glowstone interrupts the pattern, the latter illuminating the indents as well as the hall. Not many rooms can be found on this floor – a kitchen next to the empty canteen, some locked doors labelled with names of managers. It doesn’t help to improve the dubious image he got of the factory so far.

Now, Minseok said his room is on the first floor and as a sign informs Jongdae, the building has two basement floors as well. Since it’s still some time until noon, he decides to walk around the basement first – curious to see if there will be more than on this floor.

When he flies through a big opening, Jongdae is met with a narrow hallway leading around a corner. It’s a stark contrast to the other floor, rather dark and the hallway doesn’t look inviting at all. Gulping down his scared thoughts and following it, Jongdae starts to miss the snowflake carvings – the walls here are white and monotone, illuminated by fewer glowstones and turning corners every few meters. It would feel like a labyrinth if there weren’t signs at each crossing, labelling ways to various rooms and exits.

Overwhelmed, Jongdae decides to break things down and follow each path separately, this way he makes sure to check every path – following the signs leading to one room and trying to investigate there. It’s easier on his mind and more time-efficient – would he be able to enter the doors he ends up at. But the door handles won’t budge under his touch no matter how strong he pushes or knocks, the doors stay closed.

Anxiety returns, Jongdae loses his sense of time while trying to find an open door or strain his ears for any sign of another fairy. The empty hallways stay quiet though, an eerie silence taking over and Jongdae is reminded of the silent forest he passed through. This time, the silence isn’t accompanied by trees though and endless white walls fail to comfort Jongdae like nature does.

His jaw clenches and Jongdae starts to suspect that the boss knew this would happen, that he only granted him to roam around because he wouldn’t be able to enter a room anyways.

The next time he rounds a corner, Jongdae realizes he followed each sign – except the ones to the exit and to the second basement floor. The silence almost convinces him to leave and search for Minseok, but his sense of responsibility wins. After following the path to the next opening to the lower basement, he flutters his wings – collecting remaining bits of optimism in his mind. Maybe this floor contained all the factory secrets and the lower one will have more open doors? Also, shouldn’t lunchtime be soon? Jongdae is sure to meet fairies then and a sated fairy is more willing to answer his questions.

But his hopes get crashed by each door being closed, no fairy to be seen or heard. It has Jongdae’s hands shaking again, mind racing with anxious thoughts battling with this need to check every door, because that’s what he came for, right? But the minutes fly by and he didn’t find out anything in this _flutterpuffing_ basement. He doesn’t know how much time has passed and his hope of meeting fairies during lunchtime gets smaller and smaller.

His jaw starts to hurt, teeth grinding while he tries to open the last door – which doesn’t budge as expected. Jongdae barely manages to suppress the urge to kick the door or anything for that matter, yearning for an opportunity to release the pent-up anxiety and _anger_. His hands rub his eyes instead, going higher to pull at his hair and a groan leaves his lips, loud and furious and scared. It reverberates throughout the empty hallway and the echo rips Jongdae out of his mind.

It’s not over yet.

He still has one floor left to check, he could take a break with Minseok and collect himself, calm down and face closed doors with a different angle, maybe finding an open window instead. Jongdae ignores the voice which whispers that there aren’t any in these globes.

His feet carry Jongdae to an opening in the ceiling and he’s not surprised to see nothing has changed. While he gives his best to calm down his breathing and stop his shaking hands, Jongdae follows the signs to the other opening to the ground floor. The following white walls and snowflake carvings blur together, his mind now focused on reaching a certain room and not be ignored, _shut out_ anymore.

He’s met with rows of doors on the first floor, but after following a sign directing to the right for _Rooms 80-100_ , Jongdae’s eyes are firmly set on the signs next to the doors. Counting upwards, his steps once again echo throughout the white hallway – but this time there are other sounds as well. A strange rattling can be heard from some doors or muffled voices from others.

It gives Jongdae hope, that maybe the basement just wasn’t the best place to start his search. But it doesn’t help to calm his nerves, still running wild and overwhelmed by all the white walls and closed doors. It chants the numbers on the door signs … _95, 96, 97, 98, 99_!

The door isn’t different from any other lining the hallway, only the sign with Minseok’s name and most importantly - that it opens after Jongdae knocked. His eyes fall upon dark feline ones and plush lips stretch into a smile when Minseok recognizes him.

“Ah, Jongdae, I wondered where you are!”

Where should he have been? It’s not like he left the buildings. At Jongdae’s confused look, Minseok’s smile gets smaller.

“You wanted to meet me for lunch? My shift is almost over now.”

Jongdae’s eyebrows rise on their own volition – he was down there for so long? And he didn’t meet _anyone_.

“Eh …” It seems he left his voice behind in the white labyrinth. “I was stuck in the basement.”

White eyebrows rise as well, Minseok’s eyes growing wide in surprise.

“Oh, okay, well, I ate already – are you hungry?”

Jongdae shakes his head, his body only feels exhausted and overwhelmed. Minseok’s eyebrows furrow in worry while he makes room for Jongdae to step inside.

“Please eat something, I have some nuts?”

Jongdae only shrugs his shoulders. Minseok motions to a chair on the left and goes to the right himself, rummaging through a cupboard. Jongdae sits down with a nod and rubs his eyes, taking deep breaths to help him leave behind the endless walls of the basement and instead, filling his mind with other things. Like this room and Minseok.

Jongdae grimaces – _that was corny_.

“There. I need to continue, but you can wait here if you want?”

He peaks through his fingers and sees Minseok’s pale hand holding out a sachet with some nuts in it. Nodding, Jongdae takes the sachet and while he eats some nuts, he leans back to watch Minseok go back to work. The fairy sits down in a bigger chair in front of a strange looking apparatus – there’s an opening where Minseok puts his left hand inside and after a few moments, light blue glowing lines start to form. They lead from the opening straight to the floor, disappearing under a glowstone which, strangely, has the same colour.

Confused by the unusual colour, Jongdae puts down the nut he wanted to eat and looks closer – but the bright light starts to hurt his eyes and he has to look away, squeezing his eyes shut. After blinking a few times to accommodate to the different lighting, Jongdae continues nibbling on nuts and looks around.

The room isn’t big, Minseok’s chair and the strange apparatus at one wall take up most of this place. A cupboard and an open cabinet with paper rolls, where Jongdae sits in front of, are the only other things inside the room. Curious, Jongdae stands up and inspects the rolls – careful not to leave behind nut crumbs. It turns out the rolled papers are several maps, many greatly detailed of Wintertundra - other seasons can be found as well, but not as thorough as the others. It’s logical, but Jongdae had a small hope it would lighten his mood if he sees his old friend on one of these maps.

No longer interested in the maps, Jongdae goes back to his chair and slumps down on it with his head tilted back and staring at the ceiling. The sound of a book page being turned catches his attention and his head lolls to the side, taking in how Minseok’s other hand rests on the edges of a book. It’s placed on a bookstand above a cylinder or a roll? Jongdae can’t make it out clearly, but it looks like it’s separated into segments by deep indents. These segregate carvings on the rolls and after squinting his eyes, he realizes the carvings are numbers. The one on the far left … a two? Or a three? Before Jongdae can look closer or at the other numbers, Minseok shifts and covers his view.

Not wanting to interrupt Minseok’s work, Jongdae simply pouts and goes back to stare at the ceiling. It doesn’t serve any entertainment, but it doesn’t have to – Jongdae feels how his eyelids slowly close and soon the turning of pages fades out, replaced by an exhausted silence.

* * *

Jongdae’s right cheek tingles.

It’s not for long, a shake to his shoulder follows – disrupting his dreamless sleep. A whine escapes his lips, which is met with a chuckle.

“Hey, it’s surely not comfortable sleeping here.” Another shake. “Wake up, Jongdae.”

At his name, Jongdae’s eyes snap open and he sees the strange apparatus and Minseok’s chair – which is empty. He moves his head and winces when his neck protests in pain. But there he is, standing in front of him with his hands on his hips and smiling his flutterpuffing smile.

“Minseok.”

Another chuckle and Jongdae drinks in how eyes form crescents, delighted.

“That’s my name. I’m glad you didn’t forget it.” Minseok turns around to open the door and looks back to Jongdae, his smile now apologetic. “I’m sorry for waking you, but the factory is closing soon and we should be leaving.”

“Oh, yes,” Jongdae hurries to get up, his mind suddenly awake at the thought of leaving this place behind, “yes, of course. I’m sorry.”

Minseok only nods and continues to smile at him, while he locks the door and leads the way outside. They stay quiet like this morning, Minseok probably assumes Jongdae doesn’t want to talk since he just woke up and again – Jongdae prefers him thinking that way, when in truth he started feeling angry at himself. Yes, he wanted to take a break at Minseok’s room, but not like _this_. Falling asleep while Minseok works instead of doing something useful, like _asking other fairies_ about suspicious things explaining the misplaced snow cloud.

Jongdae keeps fuming all the way back to Minseok’s globe, ears turning red and he feels the other’s gaze on him. When their eyes meet, white eyebrows are furrowed in concern and Jongdae can’t look at him any longer, not willing to explain himself – to show his disappointment with the day, with himself.

But Minseok doesn’t stay quiet when they enter his globe, coats off their shoulders and shoes in the shoe cupboard. When Jongdae steps into the living room, he hears him clear his throat behind him.

“I don’t know what has you in such a sour mood, but …” Jongdae turns around to look at him, seeing how Minseok fidgets with his hands. “Maybe, I thought it could help, eh, sorry if it sounds strange, but …”

“Minseok, what do you want to say?”

“May I wash your clothes?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows rise high, not expecting such a question. His first instinct is to feel offended, his vulnerable emotional state overreacting and being angry at himself for yet another mistake he did, another weakness exposed. But remembering how dirty he felt this morning, Jongdae is glad for a chance to feel cleaner – maybe his mood gets better after a nice shower with fresh clothes waiting for him.

“That sounds nice,” Jongdae smiles at Minseok to show him it’s okay, “I think some clean clothes will do wonders to my mood. Eh, could I also take a shower?”

Minseok mirrors his smile.

“Of course. Just change out of your clothes, you can wear some of mine while we wait for yours to dry.” He turns to walk into the kitchen. “Oh, and just leave your clothes in the bathroom, I’ll do the rest.”

Jongdae hums in response and while Minseok rummages around in the kitchen, Jongdae flies through the hatch to get out of his clothes. Leaving them in a pile on the bathroom floor as told, Jongdae stands in front of Minseok’s closet now – clad in a big towel, toes twitching on the cold floor. He fed the glowstone enough energy to get the room comfortably warm, but apparently the floor didn’t get enough – Jongdae makes a mental note to change that when he gets out of the shower.

A look into Minseok’s closet reveals him being a fan of sweaters – even though Jongdae didn’t see him wear any of them so far. Grabbing the one on top as well as simple black pants, his fingers hesitate above a pair of briefs. He never had to wear underwear from someone else – heat crawls onto his cheeks and it deepens when he’s reminded that Minseok’s going to see _his underwear_ , too.

Shutting the awkward thoughts away, Jongdae puts the clothes in close reach and gets into the shower. The shower cabin is a bit smaller than he’s used to and the tips of his wings always touch the tiles, but nothing wins against the feeling of warm water on his skin. When Jongdae washes his wings, warmth running along tender membrane – an involuntary groan leaves his lips. With once again red cheeks, Jongdae towels himself and gets into Minseok’s clothes, the awkward feeling returns.

It remains when he flies into the living room and meets Minseok in the kitchen. The other’s gaze seems frozen on his heated cheeks for a few breathless moments, before Minseok utters something about “The mash is almost ready, I better start washing now.” And rushes past Jongdae. He is left with a baffled expression at the other’s hurried escape.

Still confused, Jongdae walks back into the living room and when his naked feet feel the colder floor, he feeds the glowstones more energy – instead of following Minseok and getting socks. He knows it’s childish, but he’d rather not be in the same room while the other is washing his clothes. Embarrassed, Jongdae bites his lips when he realizes he didn’t even offer to wash them himself. What an ignorant, useless guest he is!

And despite his reluctance to speak about himself or his sour mood – Minseok still wants to talk to him. Oh crumbcake, he tries to cheer him up, even when he’s not sure how to handle Jongdae. It baffles him - Minseok offered to wash his clothes by himself! Which sane fairy does that …?

Apparently one who also offers his guest bed to a complete stranger.

Remembering his arrival and being ignored by everyone else, Jongdae smiles – Minseok has a kind heart. His smile vanishes a second later though, when Jongdae realizes what a son of a troll he himself is. With his hands fidgeting, shame washes over him … he didn’t even properly thank Minseok. All Jongdae did was stare at his face, words caught in his throat and inevitably reducing Minseok to his looks. Jongdae slumps down, shoulder drooping and heart aching at his own stupidity. Jongdae feels coldness spread in his veins, joining shame and anger. He wallows in the feeling for a while, thinking that he deserves it.

Because - Minseok is more, he is his own person. With a kind heart, interests and a life. Jongdae is the stranger, an ignorant guest who’s lucky Minseok pays him any attention at all. That the other lets him sleep and eat at his globe …

His fidgeting hands start shaking, a sudden wave of coldness washing over him and momentarily numbing his mind. A quiet whimper escapes his lips. Jongdae thought the coldness had vanished and its return caught him off guard. With jittery movements, he pulls the sleeves of his sweater lower – it doesn’t help at all. He gets up and walks to a glowstone, hoping a warmer temperature in the room could help to melt the ice in his veins.

When Minseok returns, Jongdae is curled up on the couch – reading a book he found in one of the cabinets. Turning up the heat in the room seemed to help Jongdae, his hands stopped shaking and he doesn’t feel as cold anymore. He smiles at Minseok when the other steps closer – plush lips mirror the smile.

“I can’t remember a day when this room was so warm.”

“Sorry…” Jongdae curls further into himself. “I was cold.”

Minseok’s smile vanishes and his dark eyes widen.

“Don’t apologize. Do you feel better now? Should I get a blanket?”

At Minseok’s concerned questions, Jongdae chuckles quietly and his heart feels warm. Looking into the other’s feline eyes with their white eyebrows furrowed in worry, he realizes it’s okay to trust the fairy – Minseok’s heart is kind, he won’t be met with disrespect. He can share a piece of his culture with him. He can show his thankfulness by opening up and most importantly - apologize.

“Minseok?”

His words stop the other’s movements, Minseok apparently interpreted his silence as a sign to get the mentioned blankets. Feline eyes gaze back to Jongdae, eyebrow risen in question. Jongdae inhales a deep breath.

“I-I want to apologize.” He averts his eyes, not brave enough to keep the eye-contact. “I was an ass, I didn’t show any leaf of thankfulness to you. You share your food and place with me, yet I didn’t repay your kindness with anything. I didn’t even tell you something about myself …”

“It’s okay.” Minseok’s voice is calm and when Jongdae looks up, dark eyes are filled with surprising warmth for a winter fairy. “I could see how troubled you are with your search and …” Now Minseok is the one averting his eyes, “I’m glad to help you as much as I can.”

“But I still want to repay you somehow!” Jongdae’s voice is louder than he intended, Minseok’s head snaps up and his eyes are wide again – baffled. Jongdae sits up and clears his throat, suddenly shy. “So, just … you can ask questions and I will answer.”

Eyes still wide, Minseok turns around completely and joins Jongdae on the couch. His body is tense when he sits down, but Jongdae sends him a small smile to calm him and Minseok’s face smoothens.

“You mean, like,” Black eyes fill with curiosity, “any question?”

Jongdae nods, even though he’s feeling shy.

“Okay, you said there is a cloud in Autumnforest, right? When did it appear?”

“Uh,” Surprised by the first question being so direct, Jongdae fails to count the days in his head and ends up using his fingers instead. “almost two weeks ago.”

Saying it aloud is scary and sends a shiver down his spine, wings shaking.

“I’m sorry,” Minseok leans forward, expression worried again, “are you cold again?”

Jongdae shakes his head.

“It’s okay, I said I’d answer your questions.”

Minseok’s deep inhale is audible and his face remains concerned, but he nods.

“Are you … and you’re here to search for the fairy who causes the snow clouds?”

Jongdae nods.

“Please don’t misunderstand, but … you’re not an admin. Why did you travel so far only because a snow cloud appeared?”

The question is justified, yet the answer is caught in Jongdae’s throat. _Come on_ , you wanted to do this! He fidgets with his hands to overcome his nervousness.

“As you know I’m an autumn fairy, but I am also a guardian. Or more like a …” He searches for a word which Minseok could understand better, “a caretaker? I take care of an ancient tree who is important to us.”

“Ah,” Minseok’s eyes light up, “the snow cloud endangers this tree, so you took it into your own hands to investigate? That’s brave of you.”

Caught off guard by Minseok’s deduction and compliment, Jongdae simply nods.

“Does you being the caretaker explain your hair? I know you autumn fairies have colourful eyes, but I’ve never met one with such a multicoloured head of hair like yours.”

Minseok’s eyes remain their curious glow and it lightens Jongdae’s heart, knowing the other is interested. Now that he revealed his calling, Jongdae doesn’t feel as nervous and shy anymore.

“Yes, my hair resembles leaves of the tree.”

“Is it like … half-half?” At Jongdae’s confused look, Minseok hastens to explain. “Like, half of your hair is colourful like leaves and the other black parts are your own?”

 _Black parts_?

Jongdae’s eyes widen. There shouldn’t be any black, maybe a dark brown or blue but not black! Panicked, Jongdae jumps off the couch and can make out Minseok’s worried face before he hurries through the hatch, into the bathroom and in front of the mirror. Eyebrows and eyes frozen in shock, Jongdae stares at himself.

His beautiful, colourful and vibrant hair is streaked with black strands.

Minseok appears next to him, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Jongdae doesn’t really acknowledge him, his stare caught by his own reflection. His throat feels tight and his next words sound strangled.

“It wasn’t there when I showered …”

“There … shouldn’t be black?” Minseok’s voice is tender, careful not to disturb him any further.

Jongdae shakes his head slowly, eyes never leaving his reflection. He lifts a hand to touch his hair, fingertips shaking while he feels the dry black strands.

“Jongdae?”

Jongdae nods absentmindedly. The bathroom is colder and he feels his toes twitch on the cold floor.

“Is it … can I help you somehow?”

Again, Jongdae shakes his head – feeling the dry hair move under his fingertips.

“Why shouldn’t it be black?”

Jongdae’s breath hitches at the question and suddenly, he doesn’t feel that safe to tell Minseok about himself anymore. This goes beyond general information, even other autumn fairies don’t know about this aspect of the bond. Of their connection, of his hair mirroring the Dreamtree’s leaves, literally. The black leaves … is he that bad? Should Jongdae head home?

“Jongdae?” Minseok touches his arm, careful and worried. “I’m sorry I asked. This is obviously a sensitive topic, I’m sorry.”

Still staring at himself, Jongdae only nods. He can hear Minseok sigh and the grip around his upper arm shifts to his hand, still buried in his hair. With tender touches, Minseok lowers Jongdae’s hand and envelopes it with his. Feline eyes gaze at Jongdae with concern.

“I’m worried, Jongdae. You’re really pale and I know you didn’t eat much today. Do you think you could stomach something right now?”

Jongdae isn’t sure, but he nods anyways. He doesn’t feel hunger, only coldness.

His stare into the mirror turns forlorn before a gentle pull at his arm causes Jongdae to follow the other into the kitchen. The mash tastes bland on his tongue. Minseok sends him a concerned look every few seconds, seemingly checking if Jongdae doesn’t choke on his food. It’s kind of heart-warming, even though Jongdae’s heart feels anything but warm right now.

He doesn’t realize he didn’t even finish his bowl, ending up staring at a wall half-way. Minseok takes it away without a word, apparently glad Jongdae ate anything at all. After the other washed the dishes, he turns around and those black eyes express worry once again.

“I don’t ...” Minseok clears his throat. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Distract me.”

His words surprise Jongdae as well, but a distraction from this empty shocked state and coldness does sound enticing. Minseok nods and with a hand hovering over the small of Jongdae’s back, he guides them both back to the couch. Instead of joining Jongdae on it though, he flies through the hatch and returns seconds after with a blanket. He hands it to Jongdae and feeds the glowstones more energy, only then does he sit down next to Jongdae.

“Okay, I guess I could … would it interest you …” His cheeks gain a red hue. “I’m almost finished with the book I currently read. It’s nothing big, but I thought …”

Jongdae doesn’t answer - only his gaze shows he’s listening, but Minseok seems to be okay with it.

“It’s about the moon who falls in love with a human. Every night he sings to them in their sleep, gifting them beautiful dreams - but the human awakes with no memory of it. After being alone for so long, the moon is so saddened by it that he decides to fall upon earth to become human as well.”

Minseok’s voice is soothing and Jongdae finds himself listening with interest.

“Arriving in a new humanoid body, the moon realizes he only saw earth during night and is overwhelmed by the sight of daylight. He doesn’t recognize his surroundings and has to wait for nightfall to search for his human. Along the way, he befriends strange and kind humans who don’t know of his true form.”

“Does he find his human at the end?” Jongdae’s voice is small, but Minseok sends him a smile – obviously happy Jongdae talks again.

“I don’t know, I didn’t reach that part yet and Junhee won’t tell me.” At Jongdae’s confused look, Minseok continues to explain. “The book is from my sister, Junhee. She never wanted to let me borrow it, but she visited two weeks ago and gave it to me then.”

Remembering how Minseok loves to read while working, Jongdae is a bit surprised at how slow the other is reading. Minseok seems to realize this as well – his lips stretch into an embarrassed smile.

“I couldn’t start reading it right away, that’s why I didn’t finish it yet.”

Jongdae nods and another thought comes to his mind.

“Does your sister like reading as much as you do?”

“Yes!” Minseok’s smile turns bright. “She has even more books than I do, but hers are more about earth. Junhee’s fascinated by it.”

“Is she one to visit earth?”

“It’s a dream of her, but no. She’s a river fairy, responsible for keeping the water level steady.”

Jongdae’s eyes widen when he remembers something.

“So, is it true that fairy siblings have similar talents? Hers being water and yours … something with snow?”

“It’s ice, actually.” Minseok’s gaze turns thoughtful. “I never met another pair of siblings, only heard about one further in the south. But I can’t remember their talents.”

“Then I have to be patient to meet another pair and see if it’s true myself.” Jongdae pouts.

Minseok laughs at that, but it’s interrupted by him yawning. His eyebrows furrow and feline eyes scrunch together – what a cute sight.

“I’m sorry,” Minseok rubs his mouth with an apologetic grimace, “I should go to bed. Do you feel better now?”

“Yes,” Jongdae smiles, only now realizing that he calmed down, “really, thank you, Minseok.”

Minseok mirrors his smile for a few moments before he disappears through the hatch. Soon after, Jongdae can hear water running and he gets up as well to fold the blanket and put the lonely book back to its place – he noticed Minseok prefers his home tidy.

Said fairy’s voice can be heard and Jongdae flies through the hatch to answer. Yesterday he didn’t get to see Minseok in his nightgown, and the sight catches him off guard now – a cute light blue shirt covers the other’s broad chest. Jongdae blushes and hurries into the bathroom.

While freshening up, Jongdae avoids looking into the mirror – afraid that the sight will scare him again, triggering a nightmare. And if it’s one thing, he doesn’t want a nightmare to haunt him.

When he’s in bed, lights out and quiet “Good night” wishes exchanged – Jongdae waits for it. His bond starts to sting, but it grows into a burning sensation catching Jongdae’s breath and eliciting quiet whimpers. He feels the energy leaving him, the burn of it flowing away. It gets replaced by coldness, sharp ice freezing his veins and letting his hands and feet shake. A gasp escapes his lips when the flow stops, heart beating wild and fast against the coldness in his body.

Before his mind slips away, Jongdae worries if Minseok noticed his struggle.

* * *

Jongdae wakes up with a start, remnants of fear running through his veins. Breath caught in his chest, his eyes darting around. But instead of the Singing Saw chasing him through a white labyrinth – he’s met with the familiar yellow light of a glowstone and Minseok’s room. Said fairy’s bed is empty, blanket neatly folded on top of it. Glad to be alone, Jongdae doesn’t hold his pants of air back – short, sharp breaths leave his lips as the aftermath of his nightmare. To avoid getting lightheaded, he tries to get them under control.

It gets better after a few minutes of controlled in- and exhales and when he calmed down, Jongdae feels his stomach grumble in hunger. He can hear Minseok in the kitchen like yesterday, so he gets out of the bed to walk into the bathroom – noticing his clothes folded next to his bed. Eager to get into his own shirt and pants and _underwear_ , Jongdae freshens up as fast as he can while avoiding the mirror.

Minutes later, he joins Minseok at the kitchen table – exchanging smiles but nothing more. Apparently grumpy-morning-Jongdae left an expression on the other, Jongdae can see how Minseok opens his mouth to say something only to close it seconds later. A grin finds its way to his lips at the amusing sight.

It leaves as fast as it came though when Jongdae thinks of today. Hopefully he’ll have more luck than yesterday – since he plans to ask around the first floor, where he knows he isn’t alone and someone must be willing to talk to him. But what if there’s no one? What if he’s ignored again? What if he fails? What if him not trying hard enough is the reason … for his old friend getting weaker and weaker? Jongdae can feel it in his bond and bones, the Dreamtree is powerless like never before.

Jongdae gives his best to ignore the negative voice in his head, this aching feeling of failure but his face must have shown something – Minseok sends him a questioning look.

“Is everything okay?”

Jongdae nods, but then he remembers he wanted to be more open. This pain is new to him as well though, he doesn’t know how to express himself. Now Jongdae’s the one opening his mouth and closing it again. His gaze stays on his mash, too insecure to look into Minseok’s eyes. After a deep inhale, he finds his words.

“I guess … I’m scared. I didn’t find out anything yesterday.” He grimaces. “I’m afraid of failing … that I won’t find the culprit.”

“You were in the basement the whole day, right?”

Jongdae nods, eyes still set on his food. He hears Minseok hum in thought.

“I doubt you’d meet anyone in the basement today either. Fairies don’t work there.”

Surprised, Jongdae looks up and sees Minseok staring into his own bowl of mash.

“What? Why?”

“Because sprites live there. Mainly mushroom or moss sprites, they are our mechanics and keep the machines free of any unwanted greenery.”

Jongdae can make out how Minseok’s ears grow red – but of what is he embarrassed? Collaborating with sprites isn’t new to him and he wants the other to know it’s nothing to be negative about.

“There’s something similar in Autumnforest, admins try to gain the favour of insect sprites to guard their trees from harmful insects. But it’s difficult, because those sprites are hard to find and rather shy.”

Minseok hums in response again.

“Ours are, too. They shy away from us – showing themselves to strangers is even rarer. I guess they are content with staying among themselves, we try to disturb their privacy as little as possible.”

Jongdae nods and continues with his mash. This explains a lot, the doors in the basement probably only open to those sprites as well – similar to the door to Minseok’s globe. Somehow, he feels relieved to know it’s not his fault he didn’t met anyone. But on the other side – he wasted a whole day down there. Precious time he could have used differently if he would have known about the sprites beforehand. Hopefully today will be more efficient.

Minseok is quiet, apparently lost in thought as well and the silence between them gets weird. Jongdae looks up when he realizes there weren’t any sounds of eating other than his own. His gaze falls upon the other’s still red ears and his stare into the bowl indicates he didn’t continue with it like Jongdae did.

“Is everything okay, Minseok?”

His question elicits a sigh.

“Yes … No, I’m not sure.” Jongdae can see how the other bites his lips. “Can I ask you something personal, Jongdae?”

“Eh …” Not expecting such an answer, Jongdae doesn’t think and simply nods.

“We don’t know each other for long and … and I know it’s probably not my business, but I can’t help but care. You were so shocked yesterday, I don’t want to intrude further.” Minseok pauses, gulping. “I heard you. Yesterday, in your bed. You … You were in pain, weren’t you?”

Jongdae’s eyes grow wide, stunned. He hoped Minseok didn’t hear him, _toefungus_ – what to do now?

“I’m sorry if this oversteps boundaries, I just … I just wanted to know if I can help you?” Minseok looks at him, felines eyes filled with deep worry. “Do you need something against the pain? Were you cold, should I heat the bedroom more? Just say it and I try to make you feel more comfortable.”

Warmth spreads through Jongdae, heart beating wild at the display of concern. How kind and caring Minseok is … Jongdae fights against the heat on his cheeks.

“It’s okay. I feel … flattered.” He fidgets with the spoon in his hand. “I guess I could call it … normal for me. It’s not always so painful, though.” Jongdae hears Minseok take in a sharp breath and before the other can ask again, he continues. “I appreciate your concern, but it has nothing to do with the room and I doubt you can help me with it - the cause is beyond normal fairy knowledge.”

Minseok frowns.

“Is it connected to this tree?”

“The Dreamtree, yes.” Jongdae hesitates, unsure how much he’s ready to disclose. “As you know, I’m his guardian. There are not many of us, I only have one apprentice and it’s not even safe to say she’ll become a guardian. We have to go through a ceremony, it’s an intimate process where only fate decides if we resurface.”

“But you did?” Minseok’s eyes are wide, interest causing his dark eyes to sparkle.

Jongdae nods. Hazy memories try to break through and to suppress them, he keeps on talking.

“And I was changed … you asked if the cause of my pain is connected to the tree – it quite literally is.”

Now Minseok frowns, confused by his words.

“What do you mean?”

“I share a connection with the Dreamtree, a bond. It shows in my hair and magic, but it also can be seen as … real? Physical?” Jongdae furrows his brows, unsure how to explain it. “Not many know of this … physical aspect and it’s not often that I explain it, I’m sorry. It’s … through this bond that I support the Dreamtree. Every evening when he awakes, he takes energy from me to strengthen his leaves.”

“He takes it?” Minseok’s eyes are wide, voice incredulous. “You … you lose energy each evening?”

Jongdae nods and hastens to defend his bond.

“But it’s okay, like I said, it’s normal to me.”

“But it hurts you!”

Minseok’s hands form fists next to his bowl and his wide eyes express disbelief. Jongdae is stunned by his outburst, but his need to defend his old friend takes over only a second later.

“It doesn’t always hurt!” His voice is tense. “He does it to survive and I am proud to follow my calling, to help this ancient being. It hurts lately, yes, but only because he’s hurting as well! He’s weak, Minseok.” Jongdae feels his eyes itch, throat tight. “It’s not his fault that a _flutterpuffing_ snow cloud weakens him!”

Minseok’s eyes grew wider with each word, lips opened and shock evident on his features. His already pale face gets even paler and his ears seem to gain all the remaining blood – turning bright red. And then the middle of each eyebrow raises, forehead creasing. Shock blurs into worry, pain and sadness. The change only increases Jongdae’s agitation, his wings spreading wide.

“I’m thankful for your kindness, Minseok. But this … I was born for this, do _not_ pity me.”

Minseok’s face twists at his words, but he doesn’t say anything. Jongdae doesn’t know what to make of the other’s silence, adrenaline keeps pumping through his veins and his eyes don’t stop itching. His breathing is closer to panting by now and when Minseok does nothing other than stare at him with this pitying grimace, Jongdae suddenly can’t stand to be in the same room anymore.

Without a word, he jumps up and turns his back to Minseok. His hand grabs the coat, not bothering to put it on before he leaves the globe. Outside, he pulls the sleeves down with more force than necessary and stomps his way to the factory – or at least the main direction of it.

His feet carry him around for a bit, mind blind to his surroundings. Jongdae doesn’t regret his words and he knows Minseok acted out of concern. But … Jongdae already hates himself enough for failing his search, he doesn’t need the other’s pity on top of it.

His feet keep scrunching the snow under his shoes, but with each step his agitation wears off and Jongdae can think a bit clearer. Maybe they both expressed their opinions too harsh … Minseok didn’t have to get loud and Jongdae didn’t have to storm off, robbing Minseok of an opportunity to explain himself – perhaps to apologize. When Jongdae comes to the conclusion that he does regret something, that he allowed their argument to end on a negative note – he finds himself in front of the factory.

* * *

White snowflake carvings welcome Jongdae, but there’s no warmth in them. The sound of the door falling shut behind him echoes through the empty hallway and reminds him of the basement. But this time it’s different – Jongdae just finished talking to a winter fairy. He actually found someone willing to talk to him! Giddiness was his first reaction, resignation the second.

So far, he only talked with two fairies – both rather distant and without helpful information.

Shoulders drooping, Jongdae steps in front of the next door. He knocks and when the door reveals black eyes of a winter fairy, he forces himself to smile. It’s in vain, the second the fairy’s eyes dart to his hair – the door slams into his face and Jongdae only evades a painful collision since it’s not the first time this happens.

Sixty done, forty more to go.

Knocking, either being ignored or a door slammed into his face, stepping in front of the next door, repeat.

It’s degrading as well as exhausting and Jongdae isn’t in the best mood to begin with. Since his argument with Minseok, Jongdae’s eyes don’t stop being itchy and he blinks to get rid of the burning sensation. And now? With each ignorant silence or echoing slam of a door, his heart starts to beat faster and his hands are sweating since Room 46. His pants probably have wet patches already, with how often Jongdae rubs his hands on them.

Another door stays closed and his heart stings at the silence, gaze momentarily lost on the plain white colour in front of him. Jongdae massages his chest, but it doesn’t help to ease the sting – his breathing starts to sound strained. Every few inhales, his lungs burn and his throat constricts, painfully dry.

But Jongdae continues, determined to check every door – the voice in his head rises to a deafening chant of “ _Next door or you failed_ ”. It weighs heavy on his already droopy shoulders and it drives him to force his feet in front of each door. Despite his breath worsening, hands now not only sweating but also shaking.

When every door of Rooms 85 to 92 gets slammed into his face – Jongdae breaks.

His eyes start to burn with tears, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. His hands clutch the fabric of his pants with jitters loosening his grip. His wings curl down in defeat and his lungs burn with each pant pushing past his dry throat. His heart screams in anguish, beating hard in his chest. His next steps are sluggish, sight blurred and the following doors merge with the white of the walls, numbers unrecognizable.

Jongdae doesn’t even think about how his appearance must scare the fairies even further, it doesn’t matter because no door opens for him anyways. He doesn’t know if his knuckles meet a door or a wall, his knocking gets ignored either way. But then – a door opens while he knocks and his left hand encounters a build chest instead of wood.

“Oh my frostbite, Jongdae!”

A hand wraps around his, the touch cool to his skin and Jongdae looks up. Through his blurred vision he can make out Minseok’s wide black eyes and it reminds him of their argument. Words bubble past his dry throat, wretched between sobs.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I ran off, I didn’t want to rob you of … of your …”

“Hey, no, Jongdae,” Minseok’s voice sounds apologetic as well as worried and there’s another hand at Jongdae’s shoulder guiding him inside. “Please, it’s okay, I should be the one apologising!”

Jongdae lets himself get pushed onto a chair, shoulders shaking under the touch of Minseok and his brain doesn’t really filter the other’s words. Apologies keep streaming from his lips, until a cold touch on his cheek startles him out of his daze.

“Jongdae, please calm down,” Dark eyes appear in Jongdae’s vision. “Breathe in and out, like this.”

He can feel his left hand, still enveloped by Minseok, being pressed to the other’s chest to let Jongdae feel the rise and fall of Minseok’s breathing. After a few moments, Jongdae follows it along until his tears stopped flowing and he doesn’t feel lightheaded anymore. When his mind realizes what his hand is touching and how Jongdae allowed Minseok to see him so vulnerable, heat spreads on his cheeks.

“Better now?”

Still blushing, Jongdae nods and averts his eyes.

“Do you … do you want to talk about it?”

It would be the best, wouldn’t it? Jongdae can feel his heart still thumbing fast in his chest.

“Or … It’s lunch soon, do you want to eat something to calm down?”

Food is the last thing on Jongdae’s mind and his face twists into a grimace when reality starts to sink in. Tears spring forth once more and he squeezes his eyes shut, lips pressed into a firm line.

“No, I failed.” His heart screams at his words, stinging. “How can I eat when he’s going to die because of me? I can’t … my energy isn’t enough.” _I am not enough_.

The thought has his shoulders shaking again, head tilted downwards to hide his tears. _It hurts_. He didn’t find the culprit here and Jongdae feels it in his bond – the Dreamtree is too weak to survive for long. He can’t assess how much time he’ll need to travel to the other snow cloud factory or how long it’ll be if admins get involved in the search – provided that the culprit gets found in the end. His old friend won’t last that long and it hurts to know Jongdae is at his wits end. That no matter how much energy he sends, ignoring the pain it causes – the Dreamtree is facing his end. Jongdae’s time as a guardian is facing its end – because this is what he’s born for, his calling and Jongdae failed.

He can hear Minseok taking a deep inhale and Jongdae knows they are both reminded of their argument this morning.

“Jongdae, I’m sorry, really.” Minseok’s hand on his shoulder moves to his upper arm, thump moving in soothing strokes. “This is your talent and I offended you this morning. I deeply apologize for that.”

“I’m sorry, too.” Jongdae wipes his tears with his free hand, but new ones follow immediately. “You were worried, Minseok. You have such a kind heart to care about me and I ran away, without giving you a chance to explain yourself.”

He feels how Minseok squeezes their still intertwined hands, but the other stays silent. Minseok probably doesn’t know what to say – oh crumbcake, Jongdae doesn’t even know what to think. His mind turned into a continuous stream of “ _You failed_ ” and “ _He dies_ ” and there’s a headache forming behind his temples. With his eyes still burning with hot tears, Jongdae becomes aware of the coldness in his veins.

His body had ignored the pain, almost getting used to it and then this storm of fears and worries happened – taking over his mind. Jongdae didn’t notice how _cold_ he is until now. Ice bites his veins and his muscles are so tense they hurt with every movement. His wings are still curled at the tips, shaking from small jittery motions. Even his heart, despite beating fast and sharp - it feels empty and cold … longing for its bonded one. Longing for affection.

“It hurts, it hurts so much.” Jongdae squeezes their hands and bites his lips. “I’m so cold…”

“Your hand is cold, too.” Minseok’s voice sounds worried again. “I think … maybe I have a sweater somewhere, Junhee leaves them here when she visits sometimes.”

He lets go of Jongdae and turns to the cupboard, rummaging through the various drawers. Jongdae observes him, hands tucked under his armpits in an awkward self-hug. Fighting a blush, he suppresses thoughts about how he misses Minseok’s comforting touch.

“You said your bond is … physical?” Minseok’s voice is a bit muffled, because his face is partly hidden by open drawers. “As in - you’re cold, because your tree is cold due to the snow clouds? And … what’s with your hair?”

“My hair, my colours they fade because … the black leaves win, they infect him. They-“ Jongdae’s throat tightens, eyes burning. “The Dreamtree is sick and losing. Because I failed and …” His sight gets blurred once again. “he will die.” _And he’s not the only one_.

Jongdae’s eyes widen at the thought, realizing something he hid in the back of his mind but what has haunted him in his nightmares since he left his old friend.

“And on top of everything, there’s-“ He disentangles his hands from the self-hug, motioning agitated in the air, “there’s an ancient saw on the loose, p-possibly killing who knows how many innocents!”

Minseok’s movements cease and his back turns tense, wings sharp and straight. When he turns around, his face is carefully blank and he hands Jongdae a beige sweater without any words. Frowning, Jongdae puts it on and it takes a bit longer, because the openings for the wings are rather small. Meanwhile it stays quiet in the room and Jongdae’s frown deepens at Minseok’s lack of answer to the news. It’s not everyday that you get told about an ancient saw on a killing spree – some form of vocal reaction would be normal, or at least a shocked expression.

Confused, Jongdae glances to Minseok while getting into the last sleeve. The other isn’t facing him completely, eyes set on the floor and hands fidgeting, ears red. Jongdae is reminded of this morning – he looks as if he wants to say something but doesn’t dare to, scared to offend Jongdae.

“Minseok, is everything okay?”

For a moment, there’s no reaction. Jongdae opens his mouth to ask again, but then Minseok turns to him and even though he is still avoiding eye-contact, his clearly ashamed expression surprises Jongdae.

“…Minseok?”

“Jongdae, I … I’m so sorry.” Minseok gulps, eyes still downcast. “I can’t … I have to tell you something.”

Jongdae raises an eyebrow at that, confusion mixing with a weird apprehension. Minseok fidgets with his hands and his shoulders are tense, wings still sharp and straight.

“You trusted me with so much and yet … I wasn’t honest with you.”

The words fill Jongdae with anxiety, thoughts a whirlwind of possible things the other could confess. But before he can utter a word, Minseok turns around and decreases the distance between them. Jongdae’s eyes widen when he gets onto his knees and takes Jongdae’s hands in his.

“I don’t know where to start, but … please, forgive me for not saying anything sooner.” Dark eyes gaze up to Jongdae, shame and apologies hidden in them. “I didn’t want to point you in a wrong direction, but I am _scared_ , Jongdae. I-I feared being exposed and the cost is too high.”

Jongdae doesn’t know what to make of his words, eyes still wide and confusion written all over his face. Minseok takes a last long look at him and bites his lips.

“I-I’m the one you’re searching. I’m the one … the one creating these snow clouds. Jongdae, I-I am your culprit.”

 _What_?

Jongdae’s mind is full-blown and completely stunned. Mouth slack and eyebrows raised high – he stares at Minseok in disbelief. _What_? Jongdae doesn’t know what to say, words are lost to the shocked silence in his mind.

“Jongdae, I’m … I’m so sorry. You’re in pain and- and your tree is, too. Because of me.” Minseok’s voice sounds wretched, his eyes no longer look into Jongdae’s but are squeezes shut instead. His hold on Jongdae’s hands is tight and cold.

“But … the saw. She’s not killing anyone, she’s-“ His voice gets caught in his throat. “My sister! I-I saw her, the saw – he threatened to kill Junhee if I’d refuse! He _kidnapped_ her! I’m so sorry, Jongdae, but I’m doing it for my sister!”

Minseok looks up again, eyes brimming with tears and Jongdae is robbed of any word. He’s stunned, overwhelmed. His mouth opens and closes, breath strangely calm.

Minseok is the culprit.

Minseok causes the snow clouds to weaken his old friend.

Minseok, on his knees and crying. Pleading for forgiveness.

“Minseok…” Jongdae winces at his own voice – flat and airy. “I-I don’t know what to say. What … why are you telling me this now?”

The other takes a deep breath before speaking.

“Because … because I’m scared. I’m scared of all the losses – my sister, your tree, you. I-I can’t keep it to myself any longer.” Minseok shudders. “I’m so scared of him. He … he said he has his ways to control if I keep up with my part of the deal and that if I didn’t, the saw. She’d-she’d kill Junhee.”

Jongdae is even more shocked at this. _His ways to control Minseok’s actions_ – in Autumnforest, the Dreamtree. How? Another thought has Jongdae clench his jaw in fear, what about Sookyung and the sprites? Are they safe? If this fairy doesn’t hesitate to kidnap and threaten someone … who dares to hurt so many?

“Who?” The word breaks past his clenched jaw, voice worried and angry.

Minseok doesn’t hesitate to answer, seemingly glad Jongdae is willing to listen.

“He introduced himself as Hyo. An autumn fairy, we met him at the nut party. We-I’ve never seen him before. But he was nice and …” His face turns into an angry grimace, white eyebrows furrowed and lips pressed into a firm line. “We went outside and he grabbed Junhee, suddenly threatening to hurt her if I didn’t follow him outside the village. There, the saw … she sang?”

Jongdae nods and spares Minseok of further strange details about her. Instead, he presses on.

“And then this guy, Hyo? He threatened your sister, to force you to create snow clouds above …” Jongdae begins to understand, but an angry thought about Minseok causes him to ask: “Did you know you’re hurting the Dreamtree?”

Minseok’s eyes turn wide again and he shakes his head.

“No! He only gave me the coordinates – I only knew it was in Autumnforest.” He squeezes their hands. “I swear, Jongdae. I only got to know it when you told me about it!”

Jongdae wants to believe him, this ashamed voice and pleading wide eyes. But his mind hesitates, filled with mistrust.

How does he know it’s true? Minseok withheld information from him. How does he know Minseok is honest and tells him everything this time? This Hyo could be a fabricated lie of him, hiding Minseok as the true villainous fairy behind it all.

But his heart trusts Minseok. These feline eyes full of worry and this warm, kind heart.

When Jongdae arrived at Snowrich, Minseok was the only one willing to talk to him. Minseok had shown worry about him, a stranger, not having a place for the night and he didn’t hesitate to give advice. Even though his mind is now wary of Minseok offering his guest bed to Jongdae after hearing of his reason for the stay – Jongdae can’t ignore the care and worry the other expressed for him. Oh crumbcake, they argued because Minseok cares so much!

And now? The other admitted his wrong doings. Minseok confessed he’s guilty – on his own. Jongdae knows it must have been difficult to do this and he appreciates it. If Jongdae decides to believe Minseok’s story … he found the culprit. Jongdae didn’t fail in the end. There would still be hope to save his old friend – Minseok is another victim, this Hyo is the true villain. Threatening and kidnapping Minseok’s sister …

“Minseok …” Black eyes widen further and Jongdae gulps. “I-I believe you. You have a big heart, Minseok. You … you were worried about a stranger instantly – I can only imagine how terrified you must be with your sister being kidnapped.”

Minseok stares at him, but then he surprises Jongdae by hugging him. It’s uncomfortable at first – Jongdae still sits on the chair and Minseok is somehow crouching above him, trying not to squish him too much. But there’s a wetness at Jongdae’s collarbone and his heart cries in empathy. His hands find their way to Minseok’s lower back, under his wings.

“I’m still so sorry, but-but thank you!” Minseok’s voice is muffled by his coat. “Thank you …”

Jongdae hums and pats the other’s lower back, not knowing what to say now. A silence comes over them and Jongdae doesn’t know if it’s a good one or not. They stay like this for a few minutes, until Minseok’s crying turned into sniffling and Jongdae shifts – the position straining his back. Minseok distances himself with a quiet “ _Sorry_ ”, sending him an embarrassed smile with a red hue on his cheeks. Jongdae has to avert his gaze from the cute sight, clearing his throat.

“Okay, eh … what are we going to do now?”

Minseok shrugs with his shoulders, expression once again apologetic.

“I don’t know. You found the culprit – me. What did you plan to do then?”

Jongdae grimaces, now he’s the one embarrassed.

“To be honest … I didn’t really plan that far.” Minseok sends him a sceptical look. “I just hoped to talk to them and convince them to stop?”

“Good luck talking with Hyo.” The other chuckles. “You’d have to find him first, though.”

Jongdae’s eyes widen. _Right_.

“Tell me as much as you remember about him!”

“Eh …” Minseok is caught off guard for a second, but then he hums and sits down on his own chair, facing Jongdae. “Well, he has multi-coloured eyes and sharp teeth like you autumn fairies have. We met him at the nut party, he looked pretty pissed to be honest. But Junhee thought he’s cute, so she started a conversation with him.”

“What did you talk about?”

Minseok is silent for a moment.

“Junhee chattered about a book she read, but he changed the topic to our calling instead. I remember him being annoyed by my sister, but he asked many questions about the factory.”

Jongdae hums in thought. If this Hyo is an autumn fairy, him being interested may be simply interest in another season but it could also mean something different …

“Did he say something about his own talent?”

“I think … I don’t know if he mentioned his talent,” Minseok frowns and bites his lips. “but he said he works for a nutshell company – which is why he was at the party in the first place. Oh! He also seemed pretty happy that the company is close to Wintertundra, he said he likes the snow.”

Jongdae’s eyes go wide at his words.

“A nutshell company? Like, these decoration nuts - right?” Minseok nods at his question and a sudden energy surges through Jongdae, a _hope_. “Do you have one of those?”

“Eh, at home, yes.”

“Great!” Jongdae almost jumps out of his chair. “You said it’s almost lunch, let’s go. I need to see it!”

Minseok’s gaze catches Jongdae’s and the other seems to see something – a smile forms on his lips, he nods and grips his coat. Both leave the room with hope blooming inside their hearts.

The way to Minseok’s globe blurs past them, their steps hurried yet full of enthusiasm the closer they get. Jongdae’s heart only slows down when they enter, coats hanging on the rack and Minseok rushing to a cupboard in the living room. Jongdae’s thoughts are tumbling, each thought filled with hope – if his assumption is correct, nothing is lost yet.

Minseok’s hand shakes when he hands Jongdae the nutshell.

It’s a walnut, core empty of the nut and filled with an intricate wooded carving instead. Jongdae knows these kind of decorations – they are common in Autumforest, a typical souvenir for travellers. But the carving isn’t what Jongdae is looking for, he turns the nut around and his heart stops.

His lips pull into a wide smile only a second later.

“Minseok …” Jongdae looks at the other, glee in his eyes. “This … I know this emblem. I know where he works. Minseok …”

Black eyes meet his, a smile mirrored on plush lips.

“Minseok, it’s not far from the border. I can save them!”

But Jongdae’s euphoria vanishes at the thought of traveling through Wintertundra on his own again. Of lonely nights, shivering in the cold. The tips of his wings curl when he thinks of the cold wind against them or rustling the tarpaulin of his tent. His energy bars won’t last long enough, Jongdae would have to ask Minseok for provisions.

And when he reaches Nutcrown and the nutshell company … Minseok is right, he won’t be able to simply talk to this Hyo. Jongdae grimaces – with how ruthless Hyo appears, there won’t be any way to avoid violence. He’ll have to use his magic and who knows how that will end for Jongdae.

A tender touch at his arm brings Jongdae back, Minseok looks at him – worry creasing his eyebrows. Jongdae gulps.

“I can’t … I can’t do this alone, not anymore.”

“And you don’t have to.” Minseok’s voice is steady, expression warm and determined. His thumb strokes Jongdae’s shirt, soothing. “I will go with you, Jongdae. We will face this storm together.”

* * *

Jongdae wakes up with sweat on his forehead, mind still dizzy from sleep. His hands are clutching his sleeping bag, trembling with how tight he grabbed it during the night. He licks his lips in hopes to wet his dry mouth – but Jongdae stops when he realizes he’s not alone.

A smacking sound reaches his ears and confused, Jongdae turns his head into the direction it’s coming from. His eyes grow wide.

Minseok.

Oh crumbcake, he’s so _pretty_ while asleep.

His throat feels even drier at the sight, hands sinking into the fabric of his sleeping bag to suppress the sleepy instinct of touching him. Instead, Jongdae traces the other’s features with wide eyes, drinking in his beauty.

Minseok’s pale skin almost glows in the darkness of the tent, his white hair a stark contrast against his small pillow. Curved eyebrows are relaxed for once and not furrowed in worry like Jongdae has seen it often these past days. His full cheeks are squished against the pillow, plush lips opened to let out small puffs of air. Jongdae feels the heat crawl onto his own cheeks when Minseok smacks his lips in his sleep. The sight is too much for him and Jongdae shifts, his back now facing the other and his cheeks burning.

It takes a few minutes for the heat to fade, the occasional smacking sounds don’t make it easy for Jongdae. He’s embarrassed – staring at someone while they’re asleep! A younger Jongdae would have never even thought about that.

A younger Jongdae would have also never travelled such great distances.

But here he is, on the way back to Autumnforest with Minseok – a winter fairy he knows for a bit over two days, but whose kindness touched him deeply. Jongdae is grateful that the other travels with him, even when the first morning is embarrassing for himself.

They left Snowrich yesterday, late in the afternoon.

After Minseok declared to join Jongdae on his travel, they busied themselves with packing. Dried food, thick woollen sweaters and socks went into Minseok’s backpack. Some of Jongdae’s things went into it as well, since Minseok insisted no bag should be heavier than the other. But the only travels Minseok ever did where to visit his sister in a closer village, not more than a day away – which meant he doesn’t own a tent. Jongdae had gulped at the thought of sharing his.

Jongdae had also gulped with blushed cheeks, when Minseok laughed with his gummy smile because of him. He asked if the factory should be informed about Minseok’s leave and what’s going on in general. But then the gummy smile happened and Minseok only responded with a cynical remark about his useless boss, who wouldn’t move a finger if they’d told him.

Who Minseok informed though were his flatmates. Jongdae imagines their arrival would be filled with confusion – a globe empty of almost every dried food, no trace of their flatmate except a note telling them he’s visiting his sister.

Minseok had sniffled while writing the note, reminded of the danger his sister is in. He turned around to face Jongdae, tears shining in his black eyes and an apology on his lips. Since Hyo controls if Minseok holds his end of the deal – consisting in keeping the snow clouds above the Dreamtree, he has no option to stop the apparatus which keeps them there. It has enough energy for a bit over a week, which puts them on a tight time schedule. But Jongdae was and is still hopeful - they’ve got a location and the guilty fairy, that’s more than what he had when he arrived at Snowrich.

They are headed to a town called Nutcrown, famous for said nut decorations. Jongdae has never been there, but every fairy of Autumnforest has heard of a nut company producing the souvenirs in Nutcrown – hence the name. It is located close to the border to Wintertundra, which helps with the time pressure and since Jongdae got used to his maps, he doesn’t doubt they’ll need more time.

This determination doesn’t change, even when Jongdae struggles with the coldness – later in the day, after Minseok awoke and they continued their journey. It takes him by surprise how fast his body feels so cold again, after spending time in Minseok’s heated globe and his warm tent. But his body proves him he’s got nothing to withstand the cold this time – hands shaking, jaw clenching and eyes burning. The warm glowstone in his hands helps nothing against the pain from his bond, when it changes from sharp ice or burning lava flowing through his veins.

Jongdae notices Minseok’s worried looks throughout the day, but the other doesn’t talk about it. Later, when they’re cramped together inside his tent and retelling stories to each other – Jongdae gasps, caught off guard by the energy exchange washing over him without the usual signs before. And while Jongdae clenches his jaw in pain, seeing Minseok’s eyes wide and brows furrowed – he thinks he prefers the other’s eyebrows relaxed like this morning.

* * *

There are flashes behind his eyes - pictures of a saw slicing through wings, blood dropping down an unmoving hand and this _melody_. This haunting tune of bloodthirst, chaos and Jongdae knows he’s dreaming, but the sound echoes inside his head until everything is dark again.

The first thing Jongdae becomes aware of is wool against his sweaty forehead. It’s nothing disconcerting, if something he sleeps in would be made of wool – which isn’t. Jongdae’s breathing, already strained from his nightmare, turns into painful inhales.

The second thing he notices is warmth. His veins are still cold, but his body doesn’t shake anymore and his exposed neck isn’t covered with goosebumps. Jongdae loosens his grip around his sleeping bag.

The third thing follows only a second later – there are puffs of air meeting his neck. A constant rhythm of warm breaths. Jongdae stills.

He counts to ten before his eyes open, blinded by darkness. His eyelashes meet the wool his face is nestled into and Jongdae blinks to get rid of the weird feeling against his eyes. But the wool is warm on his skin, which is why he moves his head only a little – now his cheek is squished, but his eyes are safe.

More comfortable, Jongdae sighs. There aren’t that many possibilities of where he is and where the warmth comes from. When a smacking sound accompanies the puffs of air, Jongdae can’t deny whose breath is fanning his neck right now any longer.

Cheeks growing hot, Jongdae’s mind wakes up completely due to his embarrassment – like yesterday. But unlike the last morning, he’s not staring at Minseok while he sleeps, no he’s cuddled into his side? Chest? Shoulder?

Jongdae moves a bit to check but stops when the back of his head collides with a sharp edge. _Ow_ , he never noticed how sharp Minseok’s chin is. His blush deepens, because that means his face was nestled into the other’s chest.

His heart, warm despite the coldness in his bond and veins, screams when Jongdae detaches himself from Minseok. Slowly, not to wake the other – only to end up sitting a handwith away, as much as possible tucked into his sleeping bag and staring at Minseok once again. Jongdae isn’t brave enough right now to question why his heart is so attached to the other.

He keeps watching Minseok after they set off soon after, trudging through the snow. Yesterday, the other had to realize rather fast that Jongdae isn’t strong enough to withstand the cold winds, thus flying wasn’t an option. Jongdae wasn’t as fast on his feet as on his travel to Snowrich either – the progressing coldness numbs not only his wings, but also his feet. Each step feels like lifting dead weight, robbing Jongdae of precious energy.

Minseok’s worried looks grow in intensity until the other can’t keep it to himself anymore and decides they take a break. Jongdae has to control every fibre of his being not to slump down into the snow, exhausted even though they aren’t walking for so long – the morning sun is still struggling to come through. His hands massage his wings instead, fingers trembling against his sensitive membrane – the glowstone doesn’t really help to keep his hands warm and Jongdae regrets not taking Minseok’s wool coat with him. The thing didn’t fit into any of their backpacks and since Jongdae prefers to be able to improvise, thus needing his wings ready at any moment, the coat stayed at Minseok’s globe.

While his fingers move, his mind isn’t focused on avoiding stumbling anymore. Which means Jongdae can take time to look around. He’d been ignoring the white planes of snow surrounding them, the colourless sight increasing the ice he feels in his veins. But now …

Now it’s different.

Minseok appears in his vision almost every time, no matter where he looks – his gaze wanders back to the other. He looks stunning against the white background, fog tinting everything in a silver hue. It’s not so bad that they have to be careful not to lose each other out of sight, but it’s enough to cover his sight with a blurred, soft focus. Minseok’s white hair looks silver as well and the other’s smile when Jongdae tells him this, is as bright as the sun breaking through the dense air and thick clouds hours later.

They walk past a stream, air moving above it and steaming in the cold midday sun – when Jongdae asks for a break by himself for the first time, coming to a halt with strained breathing and a pained grimace. The glowstone in his hands is cold.

Minseok’s worried look burns Jongdae, shame and embarrassment rising. He knows Minseok doesn’t approve of Jongdae pushing himself until his feet won’t take another step. Of Jongdae inclining pain on himself by biting his lips until they bleed, to overpower the numbing coldness in his veins.

First, he was hopeful to reach Nutcrown in a week – keeping up with the looming time above their heads by the cloud-creating apparatus. But now? Jongdae feels his hope fade with every step he doesn’t take, the light inside his anxious mind darkening with every minute he’s resting. Jongdae is _slow_ , slower than on his way to Snowrich and because of him, the minutes fly by without them travelling far. He is the reason they won’t make it in time. He is the reason the Dreamtree will die after all and Minseok’s sister will join his old friend.

“I’m so sorry, Minseok.” Jongdae looks down and bites his lips, tasting blood. “I’m … Minseok, it’s … I’m sorry!”

“Jongdae, hey,“ Minseok is next to him in an instant, voice soothing and fingers caressing his arm. “what are you apologizing for? Everything is okay.”

“No,” Jongdae shakes his head. “I’m so slow and … the time …”

He hears Minseok sigh, his fingers keep on stroking the fabric of Jongdae’s poncho.

“The time will pass by no matter how fast we move. Don’t be so hard on yourself, please.” At Jongdae’s silence, Minseok presses on – voice turning determined. “I’m serious, Jongdae. You’re in pain, you push yourself too much and yet you don’t see how much you’re investing.”

“But what about your sister? And …”

“I am scared for Junhee, yes. Because I care for her – but I care for you, too. I’m worried, Jongdae. You’re pale, you have problems sleeping and never stop shivering. I’m scared for you, too. We’re … I won’t leave you behind, I’m not angry because you’re slow and in pain. I said we face this storm together.”

There are tears blurring Jongdae’s vision, his heart touched by Minseok’s earnest words. He sniffles and feels how the caress at his arm stops. He looks up just in time to see Minseok closing in, encasing him in his arms. The sudden warmth causes his skin to erupt in goosebumps, but Jongdae can’t help and sigh in bliss. Jongdae’s nose nuzzles into the other’s coat on instinct, hands clutching above his backpack at the lower back.

“Jongdae, we … we’re in this together. So please, don’t push yourself over the edge. Don’t … I don’t want to reach this town without you.”

Now Jongdae’s tears won’t stop flowing. _Oh, Minseok_ … such a big heart, so caring. His arms feel wonderful around him, his words sneak their way into Jongdae’s heart and mind, applying balm over his pained soul. He doesn’t know what to say, Jongdae keeps crying and listening to Minseok’s soothing voice, trying to calm him down. Minseok’s hands slide between his poncho and backpack, rubbing circles into his sore back. It helps, Jongdae slowly relaxes into Minseok’s embrace.

When his shoulders stopped shaking and his breath doesn’t sound strained anymore, Jongdae keeps holding onto Minseok. They are both quiet now, breathing in the clear air – feeling, thinking.

“Jongdae, I …” Minseok clears his throat, “I have a silly idea. I don’t want to offend you, but … maybe it would help to …”

Jongdae hums to let him know he should just say it.

“I could carry you?”

Surprised, Jongdae freezes – arms still locked around Minseok’s back. Being carried by Minseok … no. Even though it hurts, Jongdae can still walk on his own. He will _not_ be a bigger burden than he already is.

“Okay, I just … I thought suggesting it won’t hurt.” Minseok sounds sad and Jongdae feels even worse. “I just want to help you … if you won’t let me carry you, can I at least keep the glowstone warm for you?”

“Okay.”

Jongdae doesn’t tell him that the glowstone isn’t any help to him.

* * *

_Singing, singing, I am the Singing_ …

Resin sticks to his skin, eyes wide in horror when he looks around. There’s so much blood on the floor, someone is screaming and he’s so cold. His wings flutter helplessly against strong wind, but then a cry bursts past his lips when … a slicing sound, his wings! It hurts, it _burns_ but he’s so so cold.

 _Singing, singing, I am the Singing_ …

His skin crackles with lightning, untrained and without control. Someone is laughing and he gets punched, his nose explodes in pain – but his wings! Everything hurts, he’s crying and calling for someone. The floor is painted in red and brown, he slips on a leaf and his outstretched hands are covered in resin. But the fall is longer than he thought, yet the ground comes closer and –

Jongdae jerks awake when something touches his cheek.

His eyes dart around, looking for _her_ – but something blocks his vision, it’s dark and white with stars and then there’s the touch at his cheek again. Skin on skin, a light pressure, up and down, up and down …

There’s a voice, but Jongdae can’t grasp the sound of words and he keeps staring into the night sky, framed by white. Its depth captivates him and Jongdae loses the connection to his body for a second, muscles let go of their tense position and he’s slumping down, tears rolling down his cheekbones. But he’s not falling anymore, warm hands keep him together and prevent him from breaking apart.

Slowly, the stars disappear – revealing themselves as black eyes, framed by white eyelashes. Plush lips move and it fits to the rhythm of the voice. Jongdae frowns and focuses on their movement, finally connecting the sound to words …

“Jongdae, hey, come back, Jongdae!”

His cheek still tingles under the strokes of trembling fingers and Jongdae’s mind slowly refocuses on reality. He knows this face, the hand on his cheek.

“… Minseok.”

Jongdae winces at his hoarse voice, throat scratching. The caress on his cheek halts, dark eyes widening and plush lips stretching into a smile.

“There you are,” Minseok’s voice sounds relieved, “You scared me, Dae.”

“’m sorry …” He gulps, looking around again and recognizing his tent. Minseok is here, Jongdae isn’t alone. “… just a nightmare.”

Minseok nods, still smiling. His gaze drops to his hand holding Jongdae’s cheek and Minseok’s own gain a red hue. If there is one sight Jongdae would want to be woken up to it’s this. Plush lips open, ready to voice an apology – but Jongdae’s curled lips form a smile.

“It’s okay.” He lifts his own hand to envelop Minseok’s, his cold fingertips burning at the contact with the other’s skin. Slowly, he lowers it from his cheek. “Thank you for waking me.”

The other clears his throat and distances himself, cheeks still red. His hands fidget with his sleeping bag, somehow folding it while doing so.

“No problem?”

Jongdae’s smile fades, but he nods and follows Minseok’s movements, rolling his own sleeping bag together. Now completely awake, Jongdae can feel the ice in his veins once again and sighs.

Another day of snow and whiteness ahead of them.

And coldness. So much coldness.

The second Jongdae left the tent, cold wind bit his skin and his wings are numb by now – tips forever curled. His teeth started to chatter some time ago, but he’s clenching his jaw in pain by now. Jongdae doesn’t know for how long they’re on their feet again, but he does know that his feet stopped screaming with each step. He can’t feel his toes anymore – the ice in his veins freezing him from the inside and cold winds from the outside.

They take breaks more often than yesterday and Minseok feeds the glowstone in Jongdae’s hands with energy each time – it’s in vain though. His hands are shaking, fingers twitching as if possessed and Jongdae stopped answering Minseok’s worried gaze with a thankful smile. He can’t really feel his lips anymore.

The next break, Minseok doesn’t tend to the glowstone right away. He stares at Jongdae instead, black eyes wide and worried, but also determined.

“I can’t watch your misery anymore. I’m going to carry you and nothing you’ll say can change that.”

Jongdae only stares back, eyes empty and mind numb. A strangled sound leaves Minseok’s lips and he surges forward, encasing Jongdae in a hug.

“Everything will be fine, we still have time …”

Minseok gulps and distances himself after a few seconds. With an audible exhale, he pulls Jongdae closer and guides Jongdae’s arms around his neck, telling him to hold on tight. Their chests touching and cheek to cheek, Jongdae can feel the other’s warm skin against his and even the thought of Minseok possibly blushing can’t bring a smile to his lips. His breath hitches for a second though, when Minseok grabs his thighs and lifts Jongdae up – resulting into him snaking his legs around Minseok’s hips on instinct.

A sound similar to a laugh presses past Jongdae’s numb lips – he didn’t know he could move his legs that much at this point. Minseok reacts with a chuckle, hands shifting a bit to accommodate Jongdae’s weight better.

“I’m going to fly, okay? Hold on a bit tighter for the start, please.”

Jongdae doesn’t registrate his words at first, mind too overwhelmed by the numbness and Minseok’s closeness, which he truly realizes only now. His hands follow the other’s words a moment later, clutching onto the top of the backpack for good measure.

He gasps when Minseok jumps. Their chests get knocked together for a moment from the abrupt movement, Jongdae’s breath hitching and his legs squeezing Minseok’s hips tighter, in fear of falling. But he’s not – Minseok’s grip on his thighs firm and safe. Jongdae can’t really feel much of it, skin cold and numb, but only the thought of it causes his cheeks to redden. It hurts, but if he can still blush it means he’s not completely frozen, right?

With the time, Jongdae gets used to the feeling of Minseok carrying him and he relaxes. The wind is still cold against his cheeks and wings, but Jongdae focuses on the sight of Minseok’s wings to distract himself from the cold. They are so _pretty_. Membrane shining with a pearlescent white and rounded tips fluttering with no problem in the cold air. Jongdae’s own wings curl further into themselves in envy.

“Hey,” Minseok’s voice at his ear interrupts his observations, “look. The bushes, so many …”

Curious, Jongdae turns his head to better look above Minseok’s shoulder and his dry eyes widen at the sight. Minseok doesn’t fly that high, which enables Jongdae to watch the ground blur past them and _wow_. When Minseok said bushes, Jongdae expected a white or grey mass of strange shapes but this – Jongdae’s heart skips a beat at the sight of colour. No muted or snow-covered colours, but deep hues of nature.

Bushes coloured in green or a more silver variation of it, frost glistening on them in the sun. Red and copper tones mix together with a deep brown, which reminds him of his forest and multi-coloured leaves – it tugs at Jongdae’s heartstrings, making his bond sting with nostalgia and homesickness instead of ice.

Jongdae drinks in the view, cherishing the unexpected beauty of Wintertundra. When reddish hues lighten, turning into a pastel version of themselves – tender pinks and greens, a light blue that rivals the clear sky above, his eyes start to droop. He feels the warmth of Minseok’s body, his warm breath on his cheek and it’s soothing. Calming enough to allow Jongdae to slip into a light sleep.

When he awakes, it’s because the bond is filled with a sudden sting and his teeth are chattering. Everything is cold and Jongdae isn’t sure where he is – he doesn’t feel Minseok’s warmth anymore. His eyes flutter open in fear of being left behind, but the sight of his hands clutching the other’s backpack calms him down a bit.

Jongdae tries to feel his other appendages, his wings are only noticeable through the dragging feeling at his back and his legs must have slid off during his sleep, he can feel Minseok’s tight grip closer to his butt now. A blush would have crawled its way to his cheeks at the realization, but it doesn’t happen.

Jongdae is _so cold_ and he can’t differentiate between the coldness of wind on his skin and his body. He misses the warmth Minseok provided, his head turns solely on instinct – searching for the other’s cheek. The tip of his nose tingles, but there’s no relieving feeling of warm skin and it has tears burn in his itchy eyes.

“Jongdae?”

Minseok’s voice sounds anxious, the rumble of his throat noticeable on Jongdae’s nose. With his throat scratchy, Jongdae can only rasp out his answer.

“It hurts, it hurts so much. I-I’m so cold.”

“I’m so sorry, Dae.” Minseok sounds teary as well. “Only a bit more and we can stop, I’ll build the tent and you’ll be in your sleeping bag faster than you know.”

Instead of hope, the thought of his tent fills Jongdae with dread. His sleeping bag … he’ll be alone with this cold, waiting for his bond to stretch and the energy exchange to knock him out. His bond has been painful the whole day, how worse will it be? A whimper leaves his lips in fear of the pain.

“No, please, I-“ Jongdae doesn’t know what to say, but he knows he doesn’t want to be alone. “Stay with me, Minseok, please, it’s so cold and hurts, I don’t – the bond, please.”

Minseok’s grip tightens at his wretched pleading.

“Jongdae, I-”

“Please, just hold me while I’m waiting for the exchange!” Embarrassed by his own desperation, Jongdae hides his face in Minseok’s neck. “I’m so scared, the pain …”

“Shh,” Minseok moves his head and Jongdae thinks he feels Minseok’s nose touch his hair, “I’d hold you the whole night if it helps you. I only hesitated, because … well, it’s kinda intimate?”

“I don’t care,” Jongdae is still nestled into Minseok’s neck and he inhales his musky scent. “I trust you.”

* * *

His cheek tingles, a warm caress stroking his skin. A sigh leaves Jongdae’s lips, eyes still closed and he tries to get closer to the warmth. Jongdae doesn’t feel cold, but his arms and legs are heavy with exhaustion. They’re encased in something warm, it feels like fabric …

There’s another sigh, but it’s not his own. Jongdae frowns and a finger smooths his furrowed forehead. The touch is new, unexpected and Jongdae freezes for a moment, breath starting to go faster.

“Shh, everything is okay …”

The voice is quiet and Jongdae smiles, recognising it. Another kind of warmth spreads from his heart and he feels his cheeks grow warm under Minseok’s touch. Slowly, he opens his eyes to see the other – lying on his side, gazing at Jongdae. When their eyes meet, Jongdae’s breath hitches because Minseok looks like he’s been crying.

“Jongdae …” Minseok’s voice is quieter, fragile. “How do you feel?”

“Warm, safe.”

The words leave Jongdae’s lips without hesitation and his smile turns tender, but it vanishes when Minseok surges forward to hug him. Now on his back with the other on top of him, Jongdae touches Minseok’s back tentatively.

“I was so scared …” Minseok’s voice is muffled. “You were in so much pain, I didn’t know what to do. You-you trembled so much!”

Jongdae doesn’t know what to say, his hands grip the fabric of Minseok’s shirt tighter when he recalls the previous evening. Pain tints the memory red, the waiting for the bond to stretch one of the most agonizing experiences in his life. But Minseok had held him tight, murmuring soothing words and letting Jongdae blabber away, whining about the pain and mumbling things about the Dreamtree in his delirium. His embrace felt safe, assuring Jongdae he’s not falling apart while the energy exchange burned his veins and had him writhe with spasms. Jongdae’s consciousness had slipped away soon after.

Whimpering at the memory, Jongdae hides his face in Minseok’s neck.

“Thank you for keeping me safe, I’m so sorry you had to see me like this, Minseok!”

The other presses himself closer, nose touching the skin of Jongdae’s neck.

“Don’t apologize, Dae. It’s not your fault. I-” Minseok gulps. “Jongdae, I might lose my sister … please, don’t become a loss for me, too.”

Reminded of the danger their next days hold, his arms pull Minseok closer and Jongdae inhales the other’s musky scent. It calms his own heart, beating with thankfulness, affection and fear for the Dreamtree and Minseok and his sister.

“I won’t leave you, Minseok. Like you said … we’re facing this storm together.”

He feels Minseok nod, hot breath fanning his neck and silence settles inside the small tent. Both bask in the other’s warm hold, appreciating the safety of not being alone and neither of them wants to let go. They stay like this for a moment more, until a gush of wind rustles the tarpaulin and destroys the tranquil calmness between them. While sneaking glances at each other, they prepare everything to leave the tent and face the new day.

Minseok carries Jongdae again.

Jongdae would have protested if his limps weren’t so numb and heavy with exhaustion. This way, he’s left nuzzling his face into Minseok’s neck, hiding a blush while mumbling profanities that have Minseok chuckling. It turns into a game – voicing a curse word and the other rebuts with another. They turn more and more ridiculous, when Minseok says something about a frozen ball of snot Jongdae can’t keep his laughter quiet anymore.

Minseok joins in seconds later, both cackling aloud and Jongdae’s heart feels warm. He tightens his grip around Minseok’s neck, cherishing the safety he feels in the other’s arms. Their laughter ceases after a few minutes, replaced by a serene silence.

It starts to snow a few minutes later, but it’s a gentle cascade of snowflakes. One lands in Jongdae’s sight, on the backpack he’s clutching and his eyes widen when he sees the beauty it hides. A delicate design of curves gets visible on the dark fabric of the backpack and Jongdae is focuses on it until it melted completely. Another lands close, now on Minseok’s coat and so it continues – Jongdae getting lost in the view of pretty snowflakes, until the snowfall stops.

Pouting, Jongdae turns his head to watch the ground blur by instead. Since it snowed a few minutes ago, the bushes are covered in a thin coat of white and his eyes widen when trees join. They’re getting close to the border and together with the sight of familiar trees, Jongdae’s mood lightens.

It’s not far anymore.

* * *

The next day, Jongdae finds himself carried by Minseok once again. Last night’s energy exchange wasn’t as bad as the previous one, but it still left Jongdae with wobbling knees and shaking hands. This time, he didn’t protest at all when Minseok pulled him into his arms and only hid his blush by watching the ground pass by.

Bushes soon get outnumbered by trees with short trunks and broad treetops. The sight of deep green mixed with reds and oranges and yellows has Jongdae smile into Minseok’s coat. It’s not as cold anymore and it gives Jongdae hope that the ice in his veins may lessen as well.

The change of temperature definitely effects Minseok – the other starts to sweat when he has to withstand strong gushes of wind. He apologizes to Jongdae later, cheeks tinting red when Jongdae answers with a cheeky “ _I don’t mind, I like your musky scent_.” A chuckle bubbles past his lips, when he feels brave enough to make a show of nuzzling his nose behind Minseok’s ear and the other is left speechless.

Silence settles between them, but it’s not uncomfortable. Trees blur together beneath and the wind turns gentle, Minseok doesn’t struggle as much anymore. Jongdae can smell the rain before he hears it and a smile forms on his lips when he feels the familiar pitter-patter of raindrops on his skin and wings. It wasn’t the same for Minseok, though. An occasional curse word slips past his lips, annoyed by rain falling into his eyes and Jongdae thinks it’s funny – the snowflakes didn’t seem to bother Minseok like the rain does.

The rain doesn’t last for long though and Jongdae is glad about it despite his previous glee. His fingers feel how wet Minseok’s coat is by now and the added weight Minseok has to carry lets Jongdae’s heart ache with remorse. Jongdae hopes his legs are able to carry him when they reach the border control – how embarrassing it would be to ask for backup while he’s not even able to walk on his own.

This morning, Jongdae awoke before Minseok and used the time to think about what to say when they’ll talk to an admin. They need to inform the ones responsible for the Dreamtree’s area - that he still doesn’t know what’s different with the Singing Saw, her actions still somewhat unpredictable. His thoughts were interrupted by Minseok mumbling something about ‘what do you think about so hard’ and Jongdae had promptly included the other in his thoughts. Minseok’s face got dark when he told him that something isn’t right with the saw and asked ‘what _do_ we know?’. Jongdae had smiled, glad that he actually found out who she was summoned by. But his smile vanished, telling Minseok that they need to tell the admins that said fairy holds Minseok’s sister as a hostage. Which is why they search for Hyo, to confront him and that they request backup from the admin police force.

Hopefully they won’t question his words – with his hair turning blacker each day and his wobbly legs, Jongdae’s not an image of a powerful guardian. If he’s able to walk by then … they’d never let him leave in his state and Jongdae promised Minseok they’d reach Nutcrown together. They’ll face Hyo together.

Even when Jongdae’s anxiety grows at the impending confrontation and his insecurity about his fighting skills. He’ll have to talk to Minseok about that soon, they skidded around the topic so far – distracted by Jongdae’s health and he admits to himself, also because they’re scared.

Jongdae himself only had a few sparring sessions with his mentor, to get familiar with the traditional weapons of the guardian – two sharp tuning forks as big as Jongdae’s forearm. They are passed down from mentor to apprentice and each has its own name, Diapason Minor and Diapason Major – diapason being old tongue for tuning fork.

But he never had to use them since then, no one dared to attack the Dreamtree and Jongdae was glad about that. He still is, but his fighting skills are definitely more than just rusty – not that he was a good fighter to begin with. Then there was his own magic … but the lack of control over his own lightning magic, as meagre as it is, scares him into not using it at all, which wasn’t an issue before – guarding the Dreamtree doesn’t need lightning. Who would have known he’ll have to use it again someday?

“Jongdae?”

Minseok’s voice rips him out of his anxious thoughts. He frowns, the other sounds unsettled.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just …” Minseok pauses and surprises Jongdae by stopping, hovering in the air and turning them a bit to the left. “I’m not sure, is this the border control?”

Are they there already? Adrenaline pumps through Jongdae’s veins and he lifts his head to get a look of what Minseok means. Underneath them to the left, his eyes spot a weird treetop – it’s not that its shape is different, there are simply less leaves. It reminds Jongdae of how the Dreamtree looks while Sookyung and he send off his leaves.

Squinting his eyes, Jongdae looks for a door or – a window! A row of rounded windows leads around the trunk, which seems enormous beneath the holey treetop.

“It is!” He smiles. “Minseok, we just have to look for a door now. When you fly lower, you’ll see windows and the door should be on the same level.”

Minseok hums and does like told. A small gasp can be heard when Minseok spots the windows and Jongdae grins when they hover in front of one – Minseok’s looking inside, apparently new to the concept of a habitable tree. Oh, Jongdae’s curious how the other will fare when they’ll spend the next night in a tree ark … and how Jongdae’s going to ask if they can share a sleeping bunk, because he doesn’t want to sleep alone with his nightmares at this point. It’s the only reason, really.

They’re moving again, Minseok flies along the trunk and Jongdae hears another cute sound from the other when he spots the door with a small platform in front of it. Jongdae detaches his legs from Minseok’s hips and the other seems to understand what he wants to do – Minseok flies closer, which enables Jongdae to step onto the wooden platform.

After sharing a last look with Minseok, he feels a supporting touch at his back and opens the door. They are met with dry, warm air. It’s not as hot as he expected, but it still reminds Jongdae of the other border control he passed through … it feels like it was months ago. Like then, he hears shuffling paper and drawers being opened, but now voices can be heard as well.

The room they entered is circular, a service desk separating it into two parts. A water dispenser and several flyers can be found at the far left. There are four booths, two of them manned with an admin each. One of them is busy talking with two other fairies, also travellers assuming by their backpacks.

Careful with his first steps, Jongdae walks to the unoccupied booth and recalls the words he prepared this morning but stops when he doesn’t feel Minseok’s touch at his back anymore. A searching look shows the other goggling at the room, eyes big and plush lips open. The sight is so cute that Jongdae bites his lips and only pulls the other at his coat, instead of calling him and interrupting his astonished observation. With his fingers curled around Minseok’s elbow, they come to a halt in front of the booth.

The admin fairy looks amused, even though the sight of a wide-eyed winter fairy probably isn’t new to them.

“Hey, sweeties! How can I help you?”

Caught off guard by the nickname, Jongdae loses focus of the words he prepared and is left speechless for a second.

“Uhh …” He gulps, what a great first impression. “I need you to relay a message to the admins responsible for the Dreamtree.”

“I see,” The admin nods with a cheeky grin. “give me a second, sweety pie.”

They kneel down, only the tips of their wings visible and Jongdae uses the chance to tug at Minseok’s elbow again, hoping the other stops goggling at the flyers to their left. As cute as he is, Jongdae would appreciate some silent support right now. Minseok does stop, but he only sends Jongdae a confused look – eyebrows raised. An indignant huff leaves Jongdae’s lips, but before he can say anything the admin fairy comes back into view. They place a sheet of paper and pen onto the countertop.

“So, sign your name here, “ Their long fingers tap on a line of the paper, “and your message here. Our secrecy policy is on the back, but our suppliers train their companions well. So you don’t have to worry your pretty head if the message arrives safely.”

Jongdae nods, takes the pen and looks down – trying to hide the involuntary grimace on his face, not pleased by the comment about his “pretty head” when it’s literally losing colour. Clenching his jaw and with fast motions, he writes down the suspected whereabouts of the Singing Saw and the few information about her summoner.

While writing, he can almost feel the gazes of Minseok and the admin on his fingers, following the movements of him writing. They can’t read what he’s writing from this distance, but it’s uncomfortable and Jongdae’s already unsettled by the admin’s comment, which is why he focuses on finishing the message faster.

He sighs when he slides the paper back to the other fairy. They send him a perfected customer-service smile and fold the paper to fit into an envelope. A post-it gets stuck onto it and Jongdae follows their hands placing it on a high pile of similar envelopes. Seeing all this paper, Jongdae understands why only admins use the postal service – the number of fairies needed to grow enough trees for all seasons to write letters would be more than new fairies being born in a year.

“Anything else, sweeties?”

Their voice snaps Jongdae out of his thoughts and he nods.

“We want to send an ask for, uh, for backup to the closest admin police force station.”

The admin fairy’s silver eyebrows rise high, eyes wide.

“My crumbcake, I didn’t expect that.” They clear their throat. “Okay, eh, then I need the location and …” Their hands disappear beneath the counter and reappear with another paper, “I can’t simply relay this kind of request for you. I know you’re the guardian, I’m sorry, but I have to give a reason for the backup.”

“I understand.” Despite his words, Jongdae grimaces – he’d hoped his identity would be enough. But before he can say more, Minseok starts to speak.

“We’re on the way to … uh,”

He looks to Jongdae, eyes searching for help.

“To Nutcrown.”

“And we search for someone called Hyo.” Minseok pauses and Jongdae tries to see if the admin fairy shows any signs of recognition. They don’t. “We suspect him to be dangerous and of ill-intentions, which is why we want to be safe and inform the, uh, police force prior to our confrontation with him.”

“So, eh, should I write down something like,” The admin looks unsure. “like, ‘Argument which could possibly end up violent’ as the reason? And for the requested service, eh, ‘Send a patrol there sometime after’ …?”

“Noon in two days.” Minseok’s quick thinking surprises Jongdae. He couldn’t estimate the days they’ll need to reach Nutcrown without a map, plus the time they might need to find Hyo. Also, why didn’t he say anything about his sister being a hostage?

The admin fairy looks at him for confirmation and Jongdae nods, but sends Minseok a confused look. The other doesn’t notice it.

“Okay, I think that’ll work. It’s strange, but I add it’s a request from the guardian,” Long fingers scribble down what they’ve said, “so there won’t be any problems I think.”

“Thank you.” Jongdae takes a deep inhale, somehow relieved. A look at the admin’s nametag helps him to thank them properly. “We appreciate your service, Jeleo.”

“Oh sweeties, no need to thank me.” They smile at Minseok and him, after checking some boxes on the paper. “It’s my calling after all.”

“Thank you anyways.” Minseok smiles and turns to send Jongdae the same smile – who doesn’t know how to react. Is this a silent apology for Minseok’s words about Jongdae’s calling back in Snowrich? He frowns, unsure what to make of this and barely registers the admin’s goodbye.

“I hope you won’t need that backup, sweeties.” They give a small wave. “Take care!”

Minseok nods and guides Jongdae away from the booth, a few meters further to a water dispenser. Jongdae stays quiet while the other gets his water bag and refills it.

“That went well, didn’t it?” Minseok sounds like he’s smiling. “An ‘argument’, ha …”

“Why didn’t you say anything about your sister?”

“Eh,” Surprised, Minseok’s hand holding the water bag freezes mid-air. “I didn’t want to cause panic? I just … the words seemed right at the moment.”

Sceptical, Jongdae only hums. At Snowrich, Minseok was so worried about his sister and to avoid talking about her now is strange. The other continues taking sips from his water bag and filling it again, cheeks turning round while he drinks. Jongdae averts his eyes at the sight, still worried about Minseok’s behaviour. Shouldn’t he be nervous? They are both scared, aren’t they?

Not wanting to further think into that direction, Jongdae looks around. The two fairies who occupied the other booth are still there, standing off-side and repacking their backpacks. Well, one of them packs. It’s another admin fairy, small and tender looking with silver hair reaching to her shoulders and beige coloured coat. Jongdae has to look twice, unused to the sight of an admin without their grey standard uniform. He can hear her sweet voice calling out to the other, a male autumn fairy, to hand her something, but stops when he hands her a blanket. Apparently the item she wanted to ask for, because Jongdae can see how she sends the other a bright smile – caressing his hand softly while doing so.

Suddenly, the scene seems too intimate to Jongdae and he looks away.

The silent voice in his mind wakes up after so long, reminded by the scene of their yearning for a partner. His own hands twitch, longing to touch skin and return affection. Without thought, Jongdae’s gaze wanders back to Minseok. They did get quite close over the last three to four days, knowing each other barely longer. Jongdae knows, Minseok is a beauty to behold and he feels safe in the other’s arms – but are they interested in each other? He never had a relationship, how should he know if Minseok sends him some kind of signal? Did Jongdae already failed to notice one or misunderstood, eliminating the chance for a ‘we’ …? Does Jongdae even want more? His heart screams yes, but his mind questions the fast pace they’re getting close to each other … maybe it’s only because they are both scared and neither of them wants to be alone? Especially Minseok, missing and fearing for his sister …

“Jongdae?” He blinks at Minseok, thoughts interrupted. “Is everything okay? Can we go?”

“Yeah,” His heart screams against his words, insecure. “let’s go.”

* * *

Jongdae sighs, watching how Minseok hurries around the tree ark – walking circles here and flying around to open cupboards there. Since they arrived some minutes ago, Minseok didn’t find rest.

He should have expected something to happen. Their day was rather quiet, maybe too silent.

They flew through tree trunks or above their crowns and the leaves got more colourful, not only red or orange but also mixing with deep purple – creating new colours, decorated with dots and speckles. Jongdae felt better, seeing familiar leaves and the warmer temperature helped to ignore the coldness in his body. Which is why Minseok didn’t carry him anymore and Jongdae is honest to himself – he does miss the other’s embrace, but he’s glad not to be a nuisance anymore.

It also enabled him to watch Minseok’s back the whole day, noticing how quiet the other is. Jongdae tried to start a conversation a few times, but they didn’t last long. Minseok kept looking around, gaze never stopping to look at something for longer than a second.

Now, Jongdae realizes that Minseok was probably overwhelmed by all the colours, just as Jongdae was by the all-encompassing whiteness of Wintertundra. It has his eyebrows turn up in the middle in empathy, while his eyes follow Minseok closing a drawer.

“Minseok …” Jongdae tries to keep his voice soothing, “please, calm down.”

Minseok doesn’t answer, but he joins Jongdae at the table in the middle of the room. Their backpacks take up most of the tabletop and Jongdae shoves them a bit aside, to make more room for the other – in hope he’ll feel more comfortable. The chair squeaks and Jongdae can see how Minseok wobbles around on it, not able to stay still.

“Can I help you somehow?” Jongdae looks at Minseok with worry. “You’ve been strange the whole day …”

He gets only an affronted look as an answer, Minseok stands up again without saying a word and he grabs his backpack. His hands shake when he opens it, emptying it of its contents and covering the table even more. Jongdae takes his hands away from it, in fear of displeasing the other further.

Objects get stacked on top of each other, some sliding and falling off the table – Minseok curses when he notices this, placing the offending object somewhere else. When his backpack is empty, Minseok opens Jongdae’s and continues his frantic motions of unpacking their bags. He stills with Jongdae’s water bag in his hand, looking at it in interest. Jongdae stays silent, the sight of Minseok slowly losing control of his usually calm state of mind worries him and he doesn’t know what to do, how to help.

Everything escalades when Minseok finds his Diapasons

Back at Snowrich, when they packed their bags – Minseok insisted on their bags being similar in weight. This meant, some of Jongdae’s things found its way into Minseok’s backpack and since there was more room now, Jongdae had put his weapons into his backpack, carefully wrapped into a small towel of Minseok.

Which the other is now unwrapping, eyes growing wide when he sees the sharp edges of the Diapasons. Jongdae doesn’t know how to react – his throat gets tight and he can see how the panic grows in Minseok’s eyes.

A loud clutter fills the silence, Minseok throws the weapons onto the table and hastens away. Jongdae’s mind screams in worry for his Diapasons, but his heart yells louder – he’s at Minseok’s side in a second. The other’s cowering, shoulder pressed against a wall and his hands hold his head, eyes squeezed shut. Jongdae’s mind is racing, hands hovering over Minseok’s arms, unsure if touching would help the other or make everything worse.

“I can’t do this, I can’t …”

Minseok’s mumbled words have his heart aching.

“Minseok …”

A shake of his head and more mumbling, Jongdae distances himself – biting his lips, because the rejection _stings_.

“I can’t … I thought, no, I didn’t think!” Minseok’s voice shakes, sounding angrier with each word. “I just … so much happened, I didn’t … first, Junhee and then you, but … it’s so …”

His words are so jumbled, Jongdae can’t understand everything and he feels so bad. It hurts to see the other so helpless, but his help is not wanted and yet he sits close, watches how Minseok loses himself. Jongdae realizes how little they know each other after all – he doesn’t know what the other needs right now, doesn’t know what to say to ease his panicked mind.

“I’m so scared …”

“… we’re both scared, Minseok.”

The words leave Jongdae’s lips without thought and he flinches when Minseok’s head snaps up, eyes wide and filled with _so much anger_.

“You!”

Minseok lunges forward, hands gripping the front of Jongdae’s shirt and they topple over. Jongdae winces when his head smacks the floor, wings squashed under his back - but Minseok keeps spitting angry words at him.

“I’ve been so focused on you and your pain! I thought we have time, but ... I didn’t really _think_. Not about the future. About what to do when we reach this town, Hyo - a fight!” His eyes are frantic, grip tight. “Oh frostbite, I can’t even fight! You have these fancy weapons …”

“I don’t even remember how to use them properly!” Jongdae struggles in the other’s hold, breathing strained. “Minseok, please, calm down. You’re scaring me!”

Minseok does halt for a moment, grip loosening – but his stare stays hard. His nostrils flare and Jongdae can feel his breath on his face, the closeness intimidating.

“I’ve been so focused on you! I …” He gulps, the anger in his eyes softens at the edges. “I feel so ashamed, Junhee should be the first on my mind. But …”

Jongdae’s eyes widen and his heart aches, torn between feeling flattered or sad at the implications.

“I-I understand your sister is more important, but don’t beat yourself up because you care for someone!” He licks his dry lips, searching for words to alleviate the other’s distress. “Minseok, don’t be ashamed of your big heart, please …”

“Big heart …” Minseok lets go of Jongdae, slumping down next to the wall. “Junhee said the same …”

Slowly, Jongdae gets up and gasps when his wings come off the floor, membrane sticking to it at some parts. He sends an appraising look to Minseok, but there’s no second outburst and Jongdae gets closer to him – skidding on his knees. When the other doesn’t react to his presence, Jongdae places a tentative hand on his shoulder.

“Minseok … I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble and I-I wish this wouldn’t have happened at all, but it did.“ Jongdae’s throat tightens. “My-my old friend is dying and your sister is a hostage. But … I know, they would not want us to lose hope, to give up on them.”

The silence of Minseok is a contrast to his angry words seconds prior and Jongdae doesn’t know what it means – should he be more forward? Or say nothing at all? But it’s difficult for him to stay quiet when someone he cares for is in such an emotional situation.

“I-I know my words may not mean much to you, but … we will save your sister, Minseok.” Jongdae gulps. “… panicking doesn’t help anyone right now. You are scared, I know – crumbcake, I am scared, too! But we can’t allow the fear to disarm us. We …”

“We’re in this together.”

Minseok meets his gaze, eyes red and Jongdae nods. The air doesn’t feel as tense as before and Jongdae risks getting closer, sitting down next to Minseok – shoulders touching.

“We’re in this together and we are not powerless.”

“Yeah, your …” Minseok chuckles and the sound lightens Jongdae’s heart. “ _things_ looked very sharp.”

Jongdae joins his chuckling.

“They are.” He leans back, remembering his training with a grimace. “My mentor got these really cool moves and I wanted to do the same, but instead of twirling them around I cut my wrists and it burnt like a forest fire.”

“Did you master the moves after that?”

“No …” Jongdae winces at his next thought. “I never was good with them and only got the basic training. I hope it won’t be a total disaster, when …”

Minseok hums, now rather quiet than loudly angry at the mention of the future fight.

“I never had to fight anyone.” He pauses, long enough that Jongdae turns to look at him – surprised to see dark eyes shine with determination. “I’m scared, but I’m not going to let you fight alone.”

Jongdae smiles and an invisible weight he didn’t knew existed lifts from his shoulders. Fighting alone … he didn’t think of that. In his imagination, Minseok is always fighting at his side – hands glowing and ice on the ground.

“Minseok … you know you’re not powerless, right? You …” His smile grows at Minseok’s confused look. “You have your magic.”

Minseok’s eyes grow wide, smiling at the absurdity of him not including them in his thoughts. He’s quiet for a moment, eyebrows furrowed and obviously thinking.

“… I could freeze his feet.”

“Or throw ice at his head, I imagine that’d hurt a lot, too.”

Both chuckle at that. Jongdae’s heart flutters, missing Minseok’s laugh.

“But seriously, Minseok. This doesn’t sound too bad – just because we’re not used to fight doesn’t mean we can’t do it at all. You’re not incapable and with good timing, even slipping on ice can be quite dangerous.”

“You’re right.” Minseok nods, still smiling. “Maybe you can distract him-“

“You mean flailing my Diapasons around?”

A giggle.

“Yeah, he’ll be confused and I have enough time to freeze his feet so he can’t fly away. And then …” He pauses. “Jongdae, why … what is your magic?”

The question is logical, but it still surprises Jongdae – he’s not used to someone referencing his magic. Almost every autumn fairy knows he doesn’t really have it …

“Well, eh …” Jongdae clears his throat. “First and foremost, I’m a guardian … which means I don’t have that much magic of my own?”

Minseok looks at him, eyes wide and mouth open in confusion.

“… I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“That’s okay.” Jongdae reassures him. “You’re not familiar with our culture, the Dreamtree and guardians. Basically, during the bonding ceremony my magic got replaced with … with the Dreamtree.”

“You mean your bond is your magic?”

“I guess, yeah.” He hums. “I am, eh, _was_? A lightning fairy before that and I still got a bit of my own magic, but … it’s untrained, because I don’t use it.”

“Lightning?” Minseok sounds surprised. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Don’t expect to see it, I’ll try to stick to my Diapasons.”

“But you said you’re not good with them.”

“Exactly.” Jongdae sighs, remembering the disastrous experiences with his lightning. “But still better than with my magic. I … I don’t want a stray bolt to-to …”

“Hey,” Minseok touches his arm, gaze determined. “You don’t have to use it. We can make this work. I … thank you, Jongdae. For calming me, for being here for me. You …” Squishy cheeks redden and Jongdae’s eyes widen. “You showed me there’s still hope.”

Jongdae’s heart stutters at the depth in Minseok’s eyes and suddenly, there on the ground in a tree ark far from either of their homes and friends, a day before they have to face so much danger, only Minseok and Jongdae – he doesn’t feel the cold in his veins anymore. Of course, there is still fear in his heart, but something else as well.

Jongdae feels _whole_.

* * *

“Well…”

Jongdae looks at Minseok, curious what he says next.

“… this isn’t what I expected.”

A look around shows a part of the forest where the trees are grown farther apart – creating a path. They’ve been following it for a few minutes already, the view staying roughly the same. It’s only interrupted by a taller tree here and there, grown to house flats for three to four fairies. Not anything surprising to Jongdae.

“What did you expect?”

“More … fancy things? I mean, it’s called Nut _crown_.”

Minseok chuckles, but it sounds strained. Expecting this, Jongdae hurries to explain and calm the other.

“I know other towns which fit their names better, but Nutcrown isn’t really a town for … living, I think, more like … the company settled down and fairies with a fitting calling followed. I visited another area of Autumnforest, where it happened this way at least.”

Minseok hums in thought, eyes staring at a big tree and the crunching of his steps halts for a moment.

“So, these trees are for the fairies working for the company, I guess.” He tilts his head, gaze following the trunk. His shoulders droop the higher he looks. “It’s similar to Snowrich, even though I have to admit it’s … strange not to see anyone.”

“Snowrich is the same,” Jongdae chuckles. “you just never left your factory and walked around during working hour. Your village was empty during the day and after closing time, the paths were overflowing with fairies.”

“Yeah?” Minseok looks at him, eyebrows high. “I never thought about it this way.”

Jongdae keeps his eyes on Minseok, but turns around a bit to signal the other to keep walking. A tense smile gets sent his way in return and Minseok steps to his side, now both walking at the same pace.

“Well, I didn’t as well.” Jongdae realizes after a thought. “There aren’t many fairies where I live and usually, I don’t have the time to travel around. It was new to me, too. To see so many fairies.”

He notices Minseok’s surprised look at him and continues.

“Of course, I have some friends but some live far away and it’s not often that we meet. I only have Sookyung and two befriended sprites around me usually …” Jongdae clears his throat, realizing how little beings he’s surrounded by daily. “So, eh, when I arrived at Snowrich, you know, it was late so I saw many fairies hurrying home and then, well we met. I, uh, I only saw the empty side of your village when I walked around after our, eh, our … yeah.”

Remembering their argument wasn’t pleasant, Jongdae clears his throat and looks at Minseok with an apologetic smile – going back to the original topic.

“I only noticed the similarities now. I mean, it’s almost noon and no one is around, the empty housings and paths and-” An arm around his arm stops his words, his eyes flit to Minseok to ask what’s wrong but the other is staring ahead. He follows his gaze and is met with a deep ditch interrupting the path only a meter in front of them. Jongdae bites his lips, he shouldn’t talk that much – even when his nervousness has words bubble past his lips on their own will.

“What …” Another look at Minseok shows the other is as surprised as he is. Black eyes meet his with furrowed brows. “Thanks for noticing …”

Minseok nods, expression tense.

“Why is there a ditch?”

“I don’t know.” Jongdae loosens the other’s grip around his arm with tender touches and steps closer. “It’s not that deep … we can just fly across it, I guess.”

A look at Minseok to confirm his agreement and Jongdae jumps - putting more energy into it than necessary out of nervousness. He’s never seen such a ditch, this is strange …

“Maybe it’s to ward off animals?” Comes Minseok’s unsure voice from behind him. “You know, they work with nuts and animals love nuts?”

Jongdae shrugs, but he stops mid-air when he sees what lies ahead of them in the distance.

“So, this …” Minseok stops close to him, “this is the company?”

The area is _huge_.

Following the path they walked on, the forest seems to change completely. No more mixed woodland with small or high trees, instead an ocean of fresh green leaves spreads out for at least more than 900 meters. Every tree has the same height, Jongdae can’t tell one tree apart. It creates a big, green blanket with a clear edge to an emptier area to its left. There, trees with bigger trunks grow in equal distances to each other. When Jongdae squints his eyes, he can make out fairies flying to the trunks and away from them.

“I’ve never seen so many trees so close together …”

Minseok’s voice sounds amazed and Jongdae couldn’t have said it better, he nods with big eyes. There’s a moment of silence and he further observes the fairies, apparently carrying baskets to the tree trunks. Behind this area, another kind of forest grows and reaches far off to the right side –existing of higher, big-leafed trees and just as high in number as the big leaf-ocean.

Jongdae’s observation gets interrupted when Minseok speaks again, words full of worry.

“How are we supposed to find Hyo in there?”

“I’m not going to ask around again.” Jongdae’s face turns grim, remembering his experience in the snow cloud factory. “We don’t have enough time to risk getting no answers and being ignored.”

He can feel Minseok’s gaze on him, but Jongdae doesn’t want to look in fear of seeing pity in those black eyes. Turning away from the ocean of leaves, Jongdae spots something unusual to his left. In the distance, covered by the leaf-ocean and only peaking out a bit - some kind of structure out of white, dead wood … Squinting his eyes to see better, he grins when he identifies the strange shape.

“Minseok,” He turns back to the other, seeing how his eyes widen at the sight of his grin. “if you’d be an evil fairy who just kidnapped someone and has a Singing Saw follow your steps – where would you hide?”

“Uh …” Minseok frowns. “Well, I guess … I would try to keep it a secret from my flatmates and colleagues, so … somewhere secluded.”

“Exactly!” Jongdae’s grin grows to an open smile, showing teeth. His wings flutter faster in excitement and he grips Minseok’s hand to get him to follow.

“Jongdae, don’t just-“ Minseok struggles to keep up with his pace. “What, where are we headed?”

He slows down a bit, looking behind him to send an apologetic smile – which is more an in-between of joyful anticipation and an apology.

“To the left! I saw buildings, but like … old ones? I mean, the roof is made of dead wood and that means it’s outdated, we don’t do that anymore. Like, we let them grow now instead of using dead wood. And that means these buildings are old and-“

“Abandoned, probably.”

Minseok’s response has Jongdae beam at him.

“And I’d hide there.”

Jongdae pulls at Minseok’s hand, leading the way while trying to stay close to the treetops to avoid being spotted. Some minutes of flying and grinning at Minseok later, the roof is close enough to see that parts of its wooden pieces are missing. They hover above one of these openings, carefully peeking inside and listening for a sign of someone. Without voicing it, both know to be quiet – even when all they see is a grey floor. Jongdae would have moved after a few moments of silence, excitement still fuelling his restlessness but Minseok holds him down at the shoulder, shaking his head and motioning to wait for a bit longer.

When there can be nothing heard, Minseok nods and Jongdae flies through the opening, body tense in case something happens. Eyes darting around, Jongdae can hear Minseok following and looks around. It’s a warehouse out of stone walls, but there aren’t many things inside – the little boxes and sacks in some of the corners look old and dusty. The floor is covered in dust as well, no footprints visible.

“Jongdae.”

He looks to Minseok, who points to their left – a door.

They fly closer, careful not to raise any dust with their wings. Minseok reaches the door first, slowly opening it and peeking through the slit. Jongdae holds his breath for a second, his agitated mind starting to realize their situation - he can’t see anything, what if something happens to Minseok now?

Unconsciously, he closes the distance to Minseok and gets a hold of the other’s arm, his own hands shivering. His anxious gaze meets Minseok’s, but his expression smooths and Jongdae can breathe again.

The door doesn’t creak when Minseok pushes it open wide enough to fly through it. Jongdae stays close to him, fingers clutching the other’s coat and looking around. They entered a narrow hallway with five doors, nothing out of the ordinary. Some of the stones in the walls are missing and Jongdae gasps when he looks down at the ground. There are footprints in the dust, leading to the second door to their left.

He tugs at Minseok’s arm, his other hand motioning to the door. Minseok’s head snaps around, eyes wide in worry but they narrow when he spots the footprints. Flying closer, Jongdae freezes when he hears something – someone’s singing.

It’s not clear enough to make out words, muffled through the wall. But the melody is the same haunting tune Jongdae knows through his bond, the same bloodthirsty voice hunting him in his nightmares.

His eyes search Minseok’s and they share a deep look, both knowing who this is. It doesn’t help with their nervousness, but at least they know they’re at the right place, right?

Minseok readies himself, one hand close to the door handle and the other in the air, glowing light blue. His eyes look at Jongdae, waiting for his confirmation.

Jongdae takes a deep breath. He’s can’t persuade himself to let go of Minseok’s arm, so only his free hand retrieves a Diapason out of his pants pockets – shaking. With his lips in a thin line, Jongdae nods to Minseok.

The door opens quickly, hitting the wall behind with a _thunk_ and both of them stay at the doorframe – trying to look threatening and taking in the room at the same time. The singing doesn’t stop, there is no voice shouting at them and Jongdae can only stare with wide eyes, stunned at the strange sight in front of him.

To his right, a fairy – slumped down on the floor, their face tilted downwards with straight white hair and wearing a brown coat. Their wings are bound together with a cord, hands and feet tied with the same cord to a metal ring on the wall. The dust on the floor is disturbed, showing signs of previous movements. Minseok gasps – it has to be Junhee.

To his left, captivating Jongdae’s attention is the Singing Saw. Hovering in the air sideways, a single man timber saw at least a meter long with sharp edges and a pointy tip. But it’s not the jagged blade which has Jongdae stunned – it’s the eye on the handle. A big, round eye instead of the dent for a hand to grip it.

And it stares back at him.

Jongdae’s frozen, hands shivering and goosebumps arising on his skin. The Singing Saw’s song echoes throughout the small room, words worshipping her master and how much destruction she yearns to cause for him. It’s a high voice, distorted and sickly sweet.

She keeps looking at him, but her song doesn’t change – wouldn’t she acknowledge their presence? Why isn’t she attacking? Why isn’t Hyo with her? _Is it a trap_?

“Junhee!”

Minseok’s raised whisper breaks his mental freeze and Jongdae tightens his grip on the other, holding him back from flying to his sister. Wide eyes send him a reproachful stare. Jongdae meets it with alarm in his eyes, not wanting to let Minseok go into the room, to risk him getting injured when he doesn’t know why the saw doesn’t react to them.

“Min?”

Both break their eye-contact, looking at Junhee with wide eyes. Her head is slightly tilted - gaze focused on Minseok, pale skin reddened and cheeks sunken. The sight has Jongdae’s heart sting in empathy, but he’s scared enough to hold Minseok back again, the other wanting to surge forward.

“Oh snowpuff, Min, it-it’s you!” She tries to straighten her back, but falls onto her forearms instead. “You came!”

Minseok struggles against his grip, a seething “ _Jongdae_ ” spills off his lips. But Jongdae keeps his eyes on Junhee, ignoring the exhaustion in his arm from holding Minseok back. He adjusts his grip on the Diapason, fingers tense.

“Junhee, I-I know you’re in pain, but I need you to stay calm and-and answer me a question.”

His words have Minseok growl and Junhee’s gaze shifts to Jongdae. Despite her confused expression, she nods.

“This saw, did you … does she do anything different than this?”

He motions with his head to the hovering form of the Singing Saw, exuding her melodies undisturbed. Junhee looks at her as well, but frowns.

“No, since I woke up, she just …” A weak shrug. “She’s just there, singing at this picture.”

“A picture?”

Jongdae didn’t expect this answer, eyes flitting back to the saw and looking behind her. There, attached to the wall is a picture of a male fairy. Jongdae bites his lips, reprimanding himself quietly for not noticing earlier.

“That’s him.” Minseok’s voice is dark, seething with anger. “Hyo.”

A picture of Hyo. The Singing Saw is staring and worshipping a picture of Hyo.

It feels like something snapped inside Jongdae’s mind, a connection created which silences his scared thoughts and shatters every possibility of a trap. Jongdae is filled with hopeful energy instead, lifting the pressure off his soul and fighting off the darkness.

His fingers let go of Minseok.

Who sprints to his sister without hesitation, not even glancing at Jongdae or the saw for a second. He falls onto his knees and takes Junhee’s face into his hands, sharing a deep look with her. Jongdae can hear him whispering words to her, suppressing cries and he avoids his eyes, not wanting to intrude the intimate reunion of siblings.

He steps closer to the picture instead, careful not to get too close and cover it from the saw’s view. The fairy on the picture looks … cocky. A bright grin showing teeth, small eyes glinting with mischief and black, sleek hair. The sight isn’t comforting, but if his suspicion is correct … The Singing Saw didn’t attack them and Jongdae is _so sure_ to know what’s wrong with her, he just needs to check-

“Jongdae-“ Minseok’s voice startles him. “I need your-your things to cut the ropes.”

Jongdae turns around, mind still focused on his theory and how to prove it. Only a few steps and he’s next to the siblings, kneeling to cut the cord around Junhee’s feet. Then of her hands, the sight of her red and bruised skin ripping his mind out of his frenzied state.

“I’m so sorry …” He looks at her, teary face hiding in her brother’s neck and how Minseok holds her close. The hands he lets go of are shaken by small jitters. Shushing her small whimpers, Minseok pulls her closer to help Jongdae get to her wings. It hurts to see them bound, cord cutting into sensitive membrane and painting it with dried red lines. Jongdae bites his lips and tries to be as gentle as he can while cutting the cord.

Junhee sinks even more into the embrace of Minseok and cries. Minseok pats her back, careful not to touch her wings and mumbles reassuring words. Jongdae … Jongdae kneels next to them, weapon in is grip and not knowing what to do. His gaze stays on the pair of siblings, seeing hands shake and tear stained cheeks redden.

Should he say something to Junhee?

Should he apologize to Minseok for holding him back?

Still biting his lips, he tastes blood and sighs, gaze wandering down their form. Jongdae feels his heart tug at the sight of the siblings, of Minseok holding his sister. They found her, she is safe … happiness starts to build in him, heart beating in joy for Minseok to have his sister back in his arms. Yet, it is accompanied with a cold sting, a silent yearning of having someone so close to you … his eyebrows furrow on their own, eyes getting itchy.

“Hey …” Jongdae looks up at Minseok’s voice. The other sends him a long look, holding his sister close to his chest and Jongdae doesn’t know what to make of the situation, words lost to his tongue. “Thank you, Jongdae.”

He simply nods, still not able to formulate words. Minseok looks down to Junhee and caresses her cheek, urging her to look at him.

“Junhee, Jongdae’s a friend, he helped me to find you.”

She shifts her head to gaze at Jongdae, dark eyes holding a depth that has him struggling with maintaining eye-contact.

“Thank you, Jongdae.”

“I’m sorry we have to meet like this.” Jongdae’s lips curl into a regretful smile. “I’m glad we found you.”

Minseok sends him a smile, hugging his sister closer. Nobody says anything further, enjoying the small moment of victory. The Singing Saw’s sticky-sweet tune is the only thing to be heard for some moments. It reminds Jongdae of his theory and that this disaster isn’t finished yet. He glances at his Diapason and clears his throat, which causes the siblings to send him questioning looks.

“I know you just calmed down, but …” His eyebrows curl up in the middle, sorry for disturbing Junhee. “… when was the last time you saw Hyo?”

She doesn’t react at first, eyes still focused on Jongdae – but then she hums, in thought.

“Two days ago, when he gave me food.”

“Junhee,” Minseok growls, hands curling around her shoulders. “How often does he come?”

“I don’t know …” Junhee looks down, biting her lips. “Maybe every, er, two days?”

“So, he’s probably nearby today, since he sticks to this schedule?” Jongdae sends a questioning look to Junhee and she nods slowly. Minseok looks down at her.

“Do you have an idea where he could be?”

His voice is hopeful, but Junhee shakes her head and Minseok’s shoulders droop down.

“I-I have an idea.” Two pairs of dark eyes look at Jongdae and he gulps, suddenly nervous. “The saw shouldn’t be like this, her obsession should be another being. My … my strange theory is, that since she’s staring at a picture of Hyo and didn’t react to us, we can assume that, somehow her focus shifted to Hyo.”

Junhee looked confused, white eyebrows raised high – but her brother understood.

“And how does this help us?”

“Eh, it’s just an assumption, but if we destroy the picture and show her she’s been staring, singing, eh, _serenading_ …” Jongdae winces at the absurdity of it all. “… the wrong being all this time. Maybe she can lead us to Hyo.”

“That does sound strange.” Minseok grimaces. “But it’s the best chance we have.”

“Does this mean you’ll leave me?”

Junhee’s voice is small and scared, her eyes looking up at her brother. Minseok meets her gaze, expression turning tense and shakes his head – eyes full of determination.

“No, I’m not letting you out of my sight. Wherever we go, you’re coming with me.”

His answer has Jongdae raise his eyebrows in surprise. He thought Minseok would want to keep her safe and away from Hyo …

“Minseok, are you sure-“

“Yes.” He sends Jongdae the same determined look. “She comes with us.”

“O-okay, then, uh.” Jongdae takes a deep breath to not get distracted by the unexpected turn of events, to focus on what to do next. “Okay, we need to talk to the saw and convince her it isn’t Hyo by destroying it. Junhee, did you try to talk to her?”

“Yes,” Junhee grimaces. “She reacted sometimes, only to bring everything back to Hyo and gush about him.”

“Hm, I don’t know if this means we’ll have a chance to get through to her …”

“We don’t have to talk to her.” Minseok sounds tense. “Let’s just rip the picture and get it over with.”

Jongdae nods, failing to come up with arguments against it. After a deep inhale, he tightens his grip around his Diapason and gets up. But there’s another thing …

“I’ll do it. Just, eh, it’s probably better if you stand up before it and make room for her to, er, to fly away. Be ready, I don’t know how fast she’ll fly to Hyo.”

Minseok sighs, but nods. With tender touches, he helps his sister up and guides her to cling to him. She protests, but after trying to flutter her wings she holds back a cry and follows his directions without muttering another word. Jongdae’s heart stings when he sees how Junhee hugs Minseok’s front and slings her legs around his waist. Their movements appear habitual, it’s probably not the first time they do this and Jongdae remembers himself in a similar position, suddenly becoming aware of the coldness in him.

He shakes his head to refocus, sending Minseok a questioning look – apparently not able to hide his jealousy, because Minseok raises an eyebrow in question. Jongdae ignores it.

“Ready?”

They nod and Jongdae steps closer to the picture, raising his Diapason and again trying not to cover it from the saw’s view. His grip is strong, hand shaking when he brings his weapon above the paper – touching it. A breath he didn’t know he held leaves his lips when the saw doesn’t react. Another breath and Jongdae brings his Diapason down, half slicing – half ripping the picture.

The singing stops.

Goosebumps on his skin, Jongdae shifts his head to look at the saw. Her eye is widened, form tilted to have a view of the two halves of the picture on the floor.

“ _Master_?”

Her voice sounds more metallic as before, drawing out the vowels into a heartbroken melody. It touches Jongdae’s heart, but he has to divert her towards the true Hyo – Jongdae steps into her view. It causes her chant, the calling for her master to get louder and it forces Jongdae to raise is voice.

“Your master isn’t this!” He leans down to pick up the remnants of the picture with his free hand. “This is a copy, a lie. Go find your true master!”

“ _My master_!”

Her wide eye rolls up and down and then she turns around, the tip of her blade scratching along the wall – the screeching sound has them all wince with clenched teeth. The call of her voice echoes through the room, yearning for her master and then her eye focuses on the door. Jongdae holds his breath, she shoots forward and flies through the doorframe.

She’s fast, but apparently not able to get the turns right – colliding with the opposite wall. It makes it easy to follow her, Jongdae in the front and Minseok, carrying his sister, behind him. She leads them outside the warehouse, the sun fighting against clouds and hurting their eyes with a stray sunray.

Now without an obstacle in front of her, the saw accelerates and stops singing. Jongdae sends Minseok and his sister a worried look, unsure if they are able to follow. Junhee’s arms tremble around her brother’s neck, but Minseok meets Jongdae’s gaze and nods, fluttering faster to keep up with the pace.

It takes longer than Jongdae expected, the saw flying straight ahead above an area with unkempt trees and old warehouses, one looking worse than the other. A glance to his right shows Jongdae that they’re far away from the leaf-ocean and he realizes that it would have taken them a lot of time to find Hyo by themselves.

His sight focuses back on the saw, right when she stops in the air – causing Jongdae to take an abrupt halt as well. He keeps his eyes on her, cautious of her behaviour and tightening his grip around the Diapason.

“Why did she stop?”

Minseok’s voice sounds strained, catching up to Jongdae. They share a tense look, but the confusion doesn’t last for long – the saw screams for her master, shifts around and shoots past them, to the right.

She’s even faster now, Jongdae is struggling to keep up as well. He can hear Minseok’s heavy breathing behind him, but the saw keeps flying with a fast pace – getting lower each minute. The forest below changes into fuller trees, looking healthier. The saw is getting closer to the trees, Jongdae sees her jagged edge rip through leaves.

“Minseok, I think we’re close!”

Jongdae whirls around and sees Minseok catching up to him, but he’s probably still too far away to hear him. He waves his hand instead, getting the other’s attention and motioning downwards. Minseok nods, so Jongdae turns around again to refocus on the saw.

Just to see her disappear through an opening in the leaves.

A soundless curse leaves his lips, Jongdae surges forward to follow her – hoping not to lose her beneath the trees. Minseok calls something from behind, but Jongdae has no time to stop. The opening she used is small, branches knocking into his elbows when he flies through it.

It’s darker and colder, but Jongdae ignores his goosebumps and looks around to find the saw. He hears her first, then spots the silver blade shining through the foliage. She’s not far, a few meters below him and slower than before.

A glance upwards shows Minseok flying through the opening as well, one hand protecting Junhee’s wings. Jongdae turns around to lead them to the saw, continuing to follow her. But it doesn’t take long until they can guess where she’s headed – a warehouse comes into view.

Stone walls at least a few meters high, a few windows and an old roof. The saw flies to the left and Jongdae spots an entrance, motioning it to Minseok and that they need to be careful. There’s no time to pause, to halt in front of the doorframe – it doesn’t have a door and the saw flies right through it.

Without hesitation, Jongdae follows. He feels his heart starting to pump adrenaline through his veins, mixing together with the lingering coldness. His grip around the handle of his Diapason tightens. The quiet flatter of their wings echoes through the big, empty hall they entered. Unlike the other warehouse, this one isn’t covered in dust and there are no visible holes in the wall or ceiling. There’s no time to further look around, the saw speeds to another doorframe – again without an actual door.

They follow, stepping onto the floor of the hallway and Minseok guides Junhee behind himself. Similar to the other warehouse, there are five doors and the Singing Saw hovers in front of one – stabbing the wood with her jagged blade, but then she gets stuck with a loud _crack_. Jongdae freezes and just as he sends Minseok a panicked look, the door opens.

“What the flutterpuff?”

The voice is deep, scratchy and Jongdae whirls around, facing the fairy. Broad shoulders with two pairs of wings block his view, the other is taller than Jongdae expected. The fairy turns around-

It’s Hyo, sleek black hair and angry eyes.

They’re all frozen, staring at each other – stunned. For a second, Hyo’s gaze flits to Jongdae’s hair and his eyes narrow. Before Jongdae can react, Hyo’s shoving him into the siblings behind him. His wings collide with an elbow, pricking with pain. His hand meets the wall, the grip around the Diapason loosens and Jongdae tries to catch his stumble against the wall as best as he can.

He doesn’t see Hyo, but Jongdae can hear Minseok curse and the elbow digging into his back disappears. The air turns chilly and Jongdae’s head whirls around when he hears a weird squeak, followed by a yelp. He can only see Hyo’s flailing hands, feet slipping on ice.

Jongdae looks at Minseok, stunned. The other is leaning against the wall like Jongdae, right arm outstretched and hand glowing. Junhee is behind him, big eyes staring at the spot where Hyo disappeared.

Just a second later a glaring light blinds Jongdae, followed by a loud crack.

The hair on Jongdae’s arms stands and he feels the energy in the air, sizzling in his lungs. He blinks several times to get his vision back, stumbling forward to follow Minseok’s silhouette – rushing to Junhee. She’s lying on the floor, eyes wide open but unfocused and teeth grinding – spasms rock her body and Minseok gets an electric shock when he tries to touch her, hissing.

Jongdae halts, shocked eyes darting to the doorframe - searching for Hyo. His broad back comes into view, crouched not to fall onto the ice again. With his arms outstretched, Hyo is close to get off the ice and Jongdae acts on instinct.

He jolts to Hyo with a roar, skidding on the ice and colliding with him – grabbing what he can get a hold of. Hyo yelps again when his back meets the ice and Jongdae winces at the impact of his shoulder with the ground. They slide into the main hall where the ice ends, Jongdae feels the unevenness of the floor under his shoulder.

Hyo is quick to recover from the shove, now with solid ground under him. He pushes Jongdae off with a growl and turns to kneel above him. Jongdae gets a glimpse of a green eye before his right cheek explodes in pain. He cries out, head turning fuzzy. His hands struggle against Hyo holding them down with his knees and his breath stops at the next punch.

Jongdae’s scream is silent.

His jaw is a single point of bright, hot pain – sending electric shocks into his body. The lightning stirs a familiar energy in Jongdae, but his body can’t cope with it. His muscles lock, spasming with the volts pulsing through the ice in his veins and he tastes blood. Eyes unfocused and vision blurred, he can only hear Hyo chuckling. Jongdae realizes the other is still touching him, hand on his cheek – still sending jolts of electric energy into him. With a whimper he tries to shift his head away, but Hyo’s touch turns into a grip to his jaw – white pain erupting from his hold.

“Not a great guardian, huh?”

Hyo’s breath is hot on his skin, face reduced to a blob by Jongdae’s blurry sight, a few tears adding to it. He coughs and gasps breathless, when Hyo’s grip slips and the fairy’s weight on him disappears. His unfocused eyes dart around, trying to spot the other’s form.

What he sees instead is a blob which could be Minseok, standing a few meters away – glowing streaks of light around him. Jongdae blinks, trying to focus his sight and recognizes the movements as Minseok – throwing ice?

He cranes his neck, trying to follow the direction of Minseok’s ice. A bright light paints his murky sight white for a second, a loud crack following. His gaze flits back to Minseok, scared to see him also writhing in pain. But his eyes widen, ice shards lying around Minseok and he keeps attacking Hyo, shouting angry curses.

A relieved breath escapes Jongdae, head thudding back to the ground. Minseok can protect himself for a moment, Jongdae needs to get his body back into a responsive state. His fingers are trembling, but follow his will – forming fists. Jongdae licks his lips tasting blood and takes a deep inhale, before he forces his upper body to flop sideway. His vision gets blurry again for a moment, but Jongdae breaths through it and hoists himself up. Another lightning soars through the air, lighting the hall in a white hue.

Jongdae halts.

Hyo is a lightning fairy.

His mind stirs, trying to remember … Ah! Lightning fairies are prone to get high by their power – is there a possibility of tiring Hyo enough to win? What tires a lightning? Dry air? Earth? _Earth_! It absorbs the electric energy! Or was it conduct? An idea forms in his head nonetheless, bloodied lips stretching into a grin.

Jongdae looks around, searching for an opening. His gaze falls upon the doorframe – Junhee’s eyes meet his. She’s supporting herself with her forearms, on her knees. _Maybe_ …

Taking a deep breath, Jongdae gets onto his knees and crawls to her as fast as he can without losing balance on the ice. His eyes are focused on Junhee, desperation and hope urging him to move instead of looking behind himself. Her face is a grimace of fear, eyes flitting between Jongdae and the fight behind him. When he’s closer, Jongdae sees she’s even paler than before and her dark eyes scream in panic.

“Junhee!”

His jaw protests against speaking. Junhee looks at him, mouth opening and closing without a sound.

“Junhee, I-I need you to listen.” Jongdae coughs, tasting blood. “We need to tire him out a-and I want you to search for a basement, a cellar – something underground.”

Junhee frowns, but there’s no time for discussions.

“We have to get him under the earth,” His voice gets tense. “Anything underground would work, Junhee. You don’t have to fight, you don’t have to watch.”

Her eyes grow even wider at his last words and she nods, eager.

“I-I can do it.”

“Thank you.”

Jongdae looks in her eyes, trying to convey how important this is. She gulps and looks behind Jongdae for a last time, then she turns around and crawls down the hallway to another door. He follows her movements with his eyes, a voice whispering that if his plan fails and they can’t distract Hyo long enough – at least she’s not close enough to witness their defeat.

A sigh leaves his lips and he leans against the doorframe. After counting to five, Jongdae hoists himself up, knees buckling and hands gripping the frame for support. His head is still a bit fuzzy, but his vision is normal again and he turns around to face the fight.

He spots Minseok to his left, hovering in the air and loudly cursing at Hyo. Pushing himself away from the doorframe and jumping at the same time, Jongdae gets into the air to get to Minseok. But the moment he didn’t look at him, Hyo surged forward to punch Minseok.

Who can dodge the attack, but Minseok speeds into his direction, back turned to Jongdae.

“Minseok!”

His warning shout comes too late and Jongdae can’t do anything against Minseok colliding with him full force. Minseok’s shoulder slams against his collarbone, wings slapping his already throbbing face. His own flutter faster to prevent them from crash-landing, left hand gripping to the other’s coat. He can feel one of Minseok’s hands holding onto him in a weird angle.

They come to a halt a few meters next to the door and Minseok turns to him with wide eyes.

“Junhee?!”

“She’s okay!” Jongdae winces, ignoring the pain in his jaw. “She searches for a basement, we have to get him underground. But we need to distract him!“

“What! Junhee’s on her ow-“

Jongdae interrupts Minseok, pushing him away from himself and out of the way of a bolt of lightning. The white light blinds them for a second, air sizzling with electricity between them. But there’s no time to collect themselves, a glance to Hyo shows him collecting another ball of white energy. They sprint apart, speeding into opposite directions to force Hyo to decide.

And he chooses Jongdae, focussing to send lightnings his way. It’s difficult to dodge them - head still fuzzy, but Jongdae keeps on sprinting smaller distances to preserve his energy. Minseok uses the chance, shooting ice at Hyo and aiming for his head or wings. He doesn’t hit him often, but it’s enough to allow Jongdae to get closer to Hyo.

Who reacts with blasting several smaller bolts around him, missing Jongdae only by a hair’s breadth. Every breath lets him taste his blood and electricity on his tongue, wings growing itchy from all the energy in the air. Hyo doesn’t wait for him to breathe. He’s preparing to throw another lightning at him, a ball of light collecting in his hands. But it vanishes the next second, Hyo suddenly stumbling to regain balance in the air – hit with the ice at his shoulder.

Jongdae’s body moves on instinct, shooting forward to land a punch. But the moment he’s close, Hyo gets a grip on his left wing and Jongdae screams. His other wing flutters faster, trying to get out of Hyo’s hold. He can hear Minseok shout and a surprising sharp coldness at his right leg follows, worsening their imbalance.

With his wing painfully squeezed by Hyo, both flail around in the air. Jongdae chokes on his spit, fuzzy head overwhelmed by being upside down one second and upright the next. He doesn’t know in which direction they’re stumbling, mind coming up with nothing.

Another cry presses past his lips, body colliding with a wall. His shoulder explodes in pain, overshadowing his jaw and painting everything black for a second. There’s a wail next to him and the grip around his wing loosens. But Jongdae doesn’t get control over it immediately, sliding down the wall a few meters. When it does work, every flap of his wing stings and Jongdae breathes heavy.

When he looks up, big blocks of ice are the first thing he sees. Minseok’s in front of it, hands outstretched and still glowing. He’s staring at the ice blocks with wide eyes and Jongdae flies higher to be next to him.

Hyo’s frozen to the wall, body covered in ice. Only his head is free, hanging limp.

A choked laugh bubbles past Jongdae’s lips at the sight and he looks to Minseok, eyes shining with positive disbelief.

“Minseok, what-?”

“I just-“ Minseok glances at him, dark eyes wide and then refocuses on Hyo. “I didn’t know what to do after I hit you! I just, I just acted on impulse when he let you go.”

“You froze him!” Jongdae motions to Hyo, a grin on his lips. “Don’t even think about apologizing. We’ve got him pinned to a wall, he can’t fly anywhere now!”

“And what if he just … bursts his way out?”

“Then we have to keep him unconscious.” Jongdae grimaces. “I know it’s not a good way, but do you have any other idea?”

Minseok looks at him, eyebrows furrowed and arms sinking, no longer pointed at Hyo.

“No.”

Jongdae nods, a small grin back on his lips while ignoring his protesting jaw.

Minseok got him! They got Hyo! They won - a fight!

His shoulder and face remind that it wasn’t without injuries, but at least they did it. Jongdae’s eyes widen at the thought – was Minseok injured?

During the fight, he got no chance to see if the other is in pain. Now, Jongdae inspects Minseok for a minute, checking for injuries. He sighs relieved when there’s none to be seen, but …

“Minseok, are you okay?”

The other nods, smiling. He lifts one arm, his coat shredded at some parts.

“Yeah, I got some cuts, but I’m fine. Are you?”

“Yes!” His jaw protests and at Minseok’s raised eyebrow, he continues. “Okay, I’m a bit dizzy. My shoulder and jaw hurt a lot, but it’ll be fine.”

“And your leg?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows rise, not understanding immediately. He looks down and seeing the ice at his right leg, reminds him of the flailing alongside Hyo.

“Uh, I didn’t really notice …” He sends Minseok a sheepish look. “My jaw kind of overpowers everything else right now.”

Minseok grimaces.

“I’m sorry …”

“Hey,” Jongdae flies closer, touching Minseok’s shoulder. “Don’t apologize, we’ve got Hyo. I know this wasn’t how we imagined it – I mean, ‘an argument possibly turning violent’?”

Minseok chuckles at his words and nods.

“I really hoped we could avoid a fight, but …” He sighs, glancing to Hyo. “He tried to flee the second he saw us and everything happened so fast.”

“I know …” Jongdae hums and his eyes grow wide at the memory. “But Minseok, wow, I was so stunned by your fast reaction! Your ice, Hyo slipping!”

“Eh,” Minseok’s cheeks gain a red hue, “I just acted on instinct. But …” His expression falls, eyes turning dark. “Then he shot Junhee with a lightning. I was so shocked, didn’t expect- _Icebite_!” He turns to Jongdae, face distorted with worry. “Where’s Junhee?!”

Jongdae’s mouth opens, but … he doesn’t know. He bites his lips and looks behind him, searching for the doorframe where he last saw her. Minseok follows his gaze, cursing once more. His gaze darts between the frame and Hyo.

“Go,” Jongdae’s voice cracks. “she can’t be far.”

Minseok looks at him, eyes full of mixed emotions before he jolts to the door frame, calling for his sister. Jongdae follows him with his gaze, his own chaotic emotions jumbling inside his heart.

They did it! _Glee_. Minseok isn’t injured! _Relief_. Junhee’s out of sight and Minseok searches her! _Also relief? Jealousy?_

The adrenaline and glee fade, slowly replaced by exhaustion failing to hold back negative thoughts. Jongdae has to bite his lips, tasting blood to remind himself not to give in to them.

He turns around, back facing the doorframe and silencing any thought of Minseok. This is not the time to get jealous, crumbcake - Jongdae’s alone with a frozen Hyo!

His eyes flit back to said fairy, observing how parts of his chest not covered with ice move with each breath. Jongdae realizes that this could have ended completely different, but he doesn’t want to picture any of it right now.

A cough bubbles past Hyo’s lips, echoing through the hall.

Jongdae freezes.

With his gaze set on Hyo, he sees his eyelids flutter and another cough follows. Slowly, Hyo lifts his head and his eyes meet Jongdae’s. Gaze hard and relentless.

Jongdae knows he should knock him out again, but he can’t get his wings to bring him closer.

“Ah, the guardian …” Hyo’s voice is strained and slurred. “Keeping watch personally, what an honour.”

Still trying to convince his body to fly to him and - _just punch him, already_! – Jongdae only stares at Hyo, no reply on his lips. The other chuckles or rather coughs in laughter.

“It’s harder when you’re facing the garbage yourself, huh?”

Jongdae’s eyebrows shoot up, even more stunned by the unexpected question.

“That’s what we are to you.” Hyo’s gaze is hot in anger. “Garbage.”

“What-what are you talking about?”

The words tumble out of Jongdae’s mouth on their own. Hyo reacts with a strained growl, eyebrows creating deep furrows.

“Your flutterpuffing leaves! You send your sick, black leaves to us and we dispose of them. But we’re better than that!” He seethes, spit flying and Jongdae flinches. “We’re lightning! We’re power! Yet everyone reduces us to this garbage dump.”

Scared by his outburst, Jongdae inches back. His mind is in overdrive, thoughts jumbled while searching for any memory of ever hearing of such an accusation – coming up with nothing.

“I never heard a lightning fairy complaining about their calling …”

“Because they’re blind!” Hyo is spitting in rage, words still slurred. “They’re following their calling without questioning it, ignorant to their true potential.”

He inhales deeply, breath rattling and weak. Jongdae gets goosebumps at the sound and flinches again, when Hyo’s coughing in laughter.

“But not me! I raised myself above, I rebelled against the unfairness and what did I get? I was banished!”

The shout of the last words echoes throughout the hall.

They stirred something in Jongdae, clearing his mind - no longer in disarray. He gets closer, feeling his own anger grow.

“You got banished, because you’re _not above others_! No one is!” Hyo rolls his eyes at his words, scoffing. “Hyo, you can’t act for other fairies! They like to follow their calling, let them be. You should have found another way to voice your accusations, talk to an admin. But not like this …”

“You’d never understand!” Hyo interrupts him, shouting. “I can never go home!”

Jongdae grits his teeth in anger, jaw protesting.

He _understands_ Hyo.

Imagining to never be able to return home, to see his friends – he knows this fear. But his empathy doesn’t hinder his anger, realizing that exactly this fear got them both where they are now. Hyo’s hurt, searching revenge by attacking the Dreamtree - causing Jongdae the same pain, searching for the source of danger to his old friend. It’s _wrong_ , it never should have been this way.

“You got banished and-“ Jongdae’s seething by now, flying closer. “and you thought the guilty one is the Dreamtree?”

Hyo snarls, breathing strained and exhausted.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He coughs. “So many do as told just to please him, only to get reduced to trash. Stormeet is Autumnforest’s garbage dump, don’t deny it! You’re all ignorant and blind!”

Jongdae gets closer, hands forming fists by now.

“Don’t call us blind, when we just like what-“

“No! You like your comfort and-and your trash free life!” Hyo grits his teeth. “No lightning fairy wants to see the truth, I was the only one brave enough to realize and _do_ something! I did-“ A cough interrupts his words. “I did it for us! For every lightning fairy. No one sees our power, not even them themselves! We are to do _more_!”

“More?” Jongdae surges forward in disbelief, close enough to see Hyo’s dilated pupils. His voice is raised, filled with anger. “You almost killed the Dreamtree! You caused all this pain and suffering, because you’re greedy?”

“Everything I did was for the truth! Your manipulating and self-centred, know-it-all tree deserves the same agony as-“

A loud smack resonates through the hall, Hyo’s head hitting the stone wall. Jongdae’s hand throbs in pain, a loud cry bursting past his lips.

“No one deserves agony! You shouldn’t have hurt somebody else because you’re hurt yourself! This-this can never end well, there can never be a solution if everybody acts that way!”

Hyo doesn’t answer, head hanging limp and breathing flat.

Jongdae’s chest is heaving, jaw protesting against the shouting. His sight gets blurry, biting his lips – Jongdae is overwhelmed by his own outburst. With all the anger and tension leaving his hurting body, Jongdae’s shoulders start to shake and he cries.

His tears stream down his high cheekbones, collecting at his chin and Jongdae bites his lips. The remnants of blood taste metallic, throat tight and dry.

The emotional hole left behind by anger gets filled with exhaustion, taking down every wall protecting Jongdae’s frail state of mind. Shame and guilt flood him, letting his hands shake.

Jongdae can’t believe he punched Hyo!

He’d shouted at him, angered by his greediness and selfishness – only to act against his own words. Punching Hyo and ranting about no possible solution when everybody just goes around hurting each other … Jongdae got as low as Hyo.

He wipes his tears in anger at himself, hissing when his cheek stings at his touch – still sensitive from Hyo’s first punch. Jongdae’s heart hurts, disappointed in himself. He should be better, he should be _good_. But he let himself be overwhelmed by anger, not only when he punched Hyo but also earlier, not hesitating to suggest knocking Hyo out to Minseok.

Jongdae feels appalled by himself, the readiness to inflict pain.

What have the last weeks made of him?

When was the point Jongdae had changed?

More tears fall and he starts to sob, being alone doesn’t feel good right now. Self-deprecating thoughts question everything he did in the last weeks, every decision he did and how useless he is – repeating what a failure he’s become.

Without Minseok having such a big heart, Jongdae would have never found him as the culprit.

Without Minseok confessing of Junhee’s kidnapping, Jongdae would have never even thought of Hyo.

Without Minseok freezing Hyo to the wall, Jongdae would have never succeeded against Hyo.

Sobs wreck his body, self-hatred filling his heart and mind.

This whole disaster didn’t end well - despite Hyo being caught and ready to face the admins. Jongdae doesn’t know when they’ll arrive, but he hopes Minseok does before they do. Since Hyo and the saw will be handed to the admins, Minseok and Junhee will have no reason to stay any longer.

Jongdae’s heart squeezes tight at the thought of Minseok leaving.

 _Minseok_.

They don’t know each other for long, but the time they shared … Minseok warmed his frozen heart, bringing warmth back to Jongdae. A warmth he doesn’t want to miss.

They laughed together. They’ve been there for each other during their lowest points. They fought against each other and made up. They faced their opponent side by side. They won.

But did they win the other’s affection as well?

Jongdae still doesn’t know.

At the border control he wasn’t sure if he’d might miss a sign, but since their argument in the tree ark Jongdae isn’t brave enough to hope there were signs at all. The pictures his mind conjures are distorted, insecurity and inexperience clouding his memory. A headache starts to form behind his temples.

So much happened …

The last weeks feels like a different lifetime, so many new sensations overwhelming Jongdae – the pain, the coldness, the fear, the desperation.

And now, Jongdae is left feeling empty.

This whole disaster that had his mind occupied for so long doesn’t do so anymore.

Minseok will leave.

The coldness will fade.

And Jongdae will return to the Dreamtree, sending off leaves and keep yearning for a partner. A partner, who has a name in his mind by now – but Jongdae isn’t brave enough to acknowledge it yet.

Jongdae just hopes Minseok returns soon.

* * *

The black leaf in his hand might have been yellow once.

It wanders into his basket anyways, hand closing the cover and raising again to pluck another black leaf. It hurts Jongdae’s heart, so many leaves got infected.

The Dreamtree isn’t overflowing with colours anymore. Many branches are naked, void of any leaves and the ones new-born during the night are too weak to withstand the illness spreading throughout the Dreamtree’s treetop.

Jongdae cried when he saw his old friend’s state yesterday.

Sookyung hugged him the second she spotted his form, not wanting to let go of him – cursing him for being gone for so long. She had tears running down her full cheeks the whole time. Jongdae pulled her closer, inhaling her familiar scent and the emptiness filling him these last day receded. His heart was beating fast, cherishing the embrace of a friend - feeling safe and seeking comfort.

After a moment of heartfelt silence Jongdae asked for the sprites, wanting to reunite with them as well – eager smile vanishing when Sookyung had told him they won’t be visiting for a while. She had smiled though, whispering with a wink that Hwasa’s overprotectiveness and reclusiveness these last months stems from a small addition to their family. Jongdae cried again, overjoyed by the positive news in all this darkness.

It didn’t last long for Sookyung to bombard him with questions and Jongdae answered as best as he could. His memory was still blurred and some things are missing completely, a headache forming whenever Jongdae tries to remember his time in the basement of the snow cloud factory.

What he didn’t forget was Minseok – he told Sookyung about him with a lump in his throat. How they met, how his eyes scrunched when he laughs and how brave he was during the fight. He describes what his globe looks like and what they’ve been through despite the short time they shared, retelling things he remembers and holds dear.

About the mornings waking up in a shared tent, about their curse word competition and about his sister Junhee, even when he doesn’t know much – only remembering her love for Earth and the book she didn’t want to spoil to her brother.

“I wonder if he finished the book by now…”

Jongdae whispered, staring at his hands. Sookyung put her hands on his, urging him to look at her – her eyes were understanding.

“Jongdae,” She whispered. “You miss him, don’t you?”

He couldn’t answer – only nodding, tears already streaming down his cheeks.

They had parted ways in Nutcrown. The admin’s police force arrived before Minseok and Junhee did, surprised to see Hyo frozen to a wall and Jongdae explained it all to them – voice distant and void of emotions. He’d felt so empty … Jongdae doesn’t remember everything, the memory hazy and blurred.

When Minseok returned with Junhee, the admins had already left with Hyo and the Singing Saw staring at her unconscious master. Jongdae had sunken to the warehouse’s floor, sitting with his hands around his knees and staring at a wall – he didn’t even notice the siblings at first.

They sat down around him, Minseok touching his arm to get his attention – eyes worried and brows furrowed. Jongdae’s crying heart savoured the concerned questions and touches of Minseok, but his mind knew to accept the truth of him leaving.

“Minseok, stop,” The other’s hand stopped caressing his arm. “just … I’m okay. Exhausted and in pain, but okay.”

It was the truth, even if not all of it.

Minseok looked like he wanted to ask more, but Jongdae could see how his attention flit back to his sister, sitting on her knees next to them.

A longer look at Junhee showed him that she’s in a bad state, the lack of food and adrenaline making it hard for her to stay upright. Jongdae felt the same exhaustion in his bones, but different to himself Junhee’s far from home. She’ll need to recover from her injuries in her home season, surrounded by familiar snow and water.

The touch on his arm left behind a fading warmth, Minseok now closer to his sister instead of Jongdae. They whisper to each other and if Jongdae wouldn’t have felt so empty, he would be growing jealous. But instead he’s able to watch the siblings holding hands, Junhee’s shaken by jitters. Minseok exudes worry with every shift of his fingers and repeated once-overs, never letting go of his responsibility for his sister.

In this moment, Jongdae understood – like being the Dreamtree’s guardian is his duty, the bond between siblings will always come first for Minseok. Jongdae _knows_ the deep connection, how a bond can be demanding your attention and his jealousy dries out completely.

“Go, Minseok.” His words had the other look at him with wide eyes. “You both need to go home – I will as well.”

“Jongdae, are you sure you’re fine on your own?”

He simply nodded, not even sure himself - but he didn’t want to be a burden to their responsibility for each other. Minseok looked unconvinced, eyebrows furrowed and plush lips opened, but Junhee spoke before he could.

“Trust him, Min.” She sent Jongdae a thankful gaze, smiling. “I do … we all will be fine.”

Minseok hesitated, closing his lips and opening them again. He shimmied back to Jongdae, taking Jongdae’s hand in his and searching Jongdae’s gaze. His dark eyes held a depth that had Jongdae’s breath hitching.

“Jongdae … will you promise me something? Allow yourself time to heal, take care of your tree.” Minseok smiled, cheeks squishy and _pretty_. “When you’re healthy again and still want to see me – travel to a border control and send me a message. Please, promise me, Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s heart fluttered at the words, hope resurfacing and pumping through his numb veins. Minseok wants to stay in contact! Their separation doesn’t have to mean a goodbye. Words were lost to him, but Jongdae nodded without hesitation – this promise he can keep.

Minseok had squeezed their hands, thankful.

“Because I promise you something in return,” His expression turned determined. “I will wait for you and follow your call.”

Stunned, Jongdae opened his mouth but not a word left his lips. Minseok had smiled at him, hands warm and voice reassuring.

“This is no goodbye, Jongdae. We faced this storm together and we will meet again.”

Minseok looked like he wanted to say so much more, but Jongdae already saw the depth in his black eyes – a night sky filled with stars, resilient and waiting for its sun to kiss the day awake.

Nurtured by the silent voice in him, hope and determination grow inside Jongdae’s heart since then. He cherishes every memory of Minseok but misses the other just as much. Sookyung doesn’t stop listening to his stories with glee in her eyes, supporting his heart’s decision.

Time flies by, days turn into weeks and with each new sunrise – Jongdae is happy to see his old friend covered in less black leaves. He feels it in his bond, the Dreamtree recovers steadily. Sookyung and Jongdae can send off more leaves each day, the darkness in his basket getting smaller.

As the Dreamtree gets healthier, Jongdae recovers just as well. No nightmares haunt him in the night any longer – dreams filled with plush lips stretched into a gummy smile and shimmering black eyes comfort him in his sleep instead. A deep warmth spreads in him, the yearning growing into anticipation.

The lonely, empty part of him doesn’t feel as forsaken as before. There’s no longer a missing piece in his soul – it knows where it belongs. The quiet dream of his isn’t so silent anymore.

The thought paints an optimistic smile on Jongdae’s lips every time he watches the sun rise above the treetops, lighting everything in a golden hue.

Because every new day brings him closer to Minseok.

* * *

**There was a leaf that fluttered in the storm**

**It silently waited for its dreams to take form**

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you my dear, for travelling so far with me. I hope you enjoyed reading ♥


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